Is crypto legal in UAE? Rules & regulation (2026)

Legal framework

Multi-regulator framework: Federal Cabinet Decision No. 111/2022 (SCA federal VASP regime); Central Bank of the UAE Payment Token Services Regulation (PTSR, 2024, fully effective June 2025); Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022 establishing the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) with a full rulebook suite; ADGM/FSRA Virtual Asset framework; DIFC/DFSA Investment Token & Crypto Token regime.

Status by sub-area

• Stablecoins

  In force

  The CBUAE Payment Token Services Regulation (June 2024) is fully in force after the transition period ended in June 2025. Only dirham-backed tokens may be used for payments to UAE customers, with foreign payment tokens requiring registration; reserve, redemption, audit and capital requirements apply, and the CBUAE has actively approved AED- and USD-backed stablecoin issuers.

• Exchanges / VASP

  In force

  VASPs operating exchanges or broker-dealer services in the UAE require a licence from VARA (Dubai), SCA (other Emirates) or the relevant financial free-zone regulator (FSRA in ADGM, DFSA in DIFC), with conduct, capital, market-integrity and local-presence requirements. Major global exchanges including Bybit, OKX, Binance and Crypto.com hold UAE licences.

• Token Offerings

  In force

  Token offerings are regulated under VARA's Virtual Asset Issuance Rulebook (Dubai), the SCA federal regime, and free-zone rules; issuers must obtain prior approval, publish whitepapers/offering documents with risk and rights disclosures, and security tokens fall within securities-law treatment.

• Custody

  In force

  Crypto custody is a separately licensed activity under VARA, SCA, FSRA and DFSA, with mandatory segregation of client assets, qualified custodian standards, cyber-resilience, sub-custody controls and proof-of-reserves/audit obligations.

• DeFi

  Partial

  DeFi falls within the general scope of VARA, SCA and free-zone VASP rules where there is an identifiable controlling person, front-end operator or VASP-equivalent activity, but the UAE has not issued a dedicated DeFi-specific rulebook; ADGM has introduced staking-of-virtual-assets framework as an interim step.

  Still pending: Dedicated DeFi-specific rulebook not yet issued; interim staking-of-virtual-assets framework in place via ADGM

• Tax

  In force

  The UAE has no personal income tax, so individual crypto gains are untaxed; corporate tax (9% federal, 0% for qualifying free-zone income) applies to crypto-related business profits, and Cabinet Decision No. 100/2024 exempts transfers and conversions of virtual assets from VAT with retroactive effect from 1 January 2018.

How to get a crypto license in UAE

To provide crypto-asset services in UAE you need a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence, from VARA in Dubai, the FSRA in ADGM, or the SCA federally, depending on the emirate and activity, supervised by Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and the federal Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), under Dubai's Virtual Assets Law (Law No. 4 of 2022) and the VARA rulebooks, with ADGM and DIFC running their own regimes.

Authority

Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and the federal Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA)

License required

a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence, from VARA in Dubai, the FSRA in ADGM, or the SCA federally, depending on the emirate and activity

Framework / law

Dubai's Virtual Assets Law (Law No. 4 of 2022) and the VARA rulebooks, with ADGM and DIFC running their own regimes

Minimum capital

set by the regulator and activity: VARA applies category-specific paid-up capital, typically the greater of a fixed minimum or six months of operating expenses

Timeline

roughly 4–8 months across the initial and operational approval stages

Cost

application and annual supervision fees that vary by licence category (VARA fees commonly run from about AED 40,000 to AED 200,000+)

Passporting

No: each UAE regime (VARA in Dubai, ADGM, DIFC, SCA) licenses separately; a licence in one does not automatically cover the others.

The UAE, and Dubai's dedicated regulator VARA, is the most-searched crypto-licensing jurisdiction; ADGM and DIFC are alternative financial free zones.

Key points: crypto & digital assets in UAE

1. 01Federal VASP regime (SCA)

   Cabinet Decision No. 111/2022 (in force 14 January 2023) prohibits carrying on virtual-asset activities in the UAE without a licence from the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) or a local licensing authority; it brings VASPs within UAE AML legislation and excludes financial free zones, digital securities and CBUAE-regulated payment instruments.

   rulebooks.vara.ae uaelegislation.gov.ae

2. 02Dubai — VARA

   The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, established by Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022, is the world's first dedicated virtual-asset regulator and licenses VASPs across Dubai (excluding DIFC) via 13 rulebooks (5 compulsory + 8 activity-specific) covering exchange, broker-dealer, custody, lending, advisory, management and issuance.

   vara.ae rulebooks.vara.ae

3. 03Central Bank stablecoin/payments regime

   The CBUAE Payment Token Services Regulation, issued June 2024, requires licensing for issuance, conversion, custody and transfer of dirham- and foreign-currency-backed payment tokens; the one-year transition ended June 2025 and the CBUAE has approved AED stablecoins (e.g. AE Coin, Zand AED) and authorised USD-backed stablecoin issuance under PTSR.

   rulebook.centralbank.ae pinsentmasons.com

4. 04Financial free zones (ADGM & DIFC)

   ADGM's FSRA regulates virtual asset activities (custody, MTF, dealing, fiat-referenced tokens) with amendments effective 10 June 2025 and new Category-4 'Money Services by way of Fiat Referenced Tokens' from 1 January 2026; DIFC's DFSA runs parallel Investment Token and Crypto Token regimes. Both free zones are excluded from the federal SCA/VARA scope.

   adgm.com adgm.com

5. 05VAT exemption for virtual assets

   Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2024 amended the VAT Executive Regulations to exempt transfers, conversion, keeping and managing of virtual assets from VAT, effective 15 November 2024 with retroactive effect from 1 January 2018; commercial mining and ancillary services remain taxable.

   insightplus.bakermckenzie.com bdo.global

6. 06SCA–VARA coordination & active licensing market

   Under the 5 September 2024 SCA–VARA cooperation agreement, VARA-licensed VASPs are automatically registered with SCA for UAE-wide operation; outside Dubai, VASPs license directly with SCA, with major exchanges (e.g. Bybit, OKX, Binance, Crypto.com) holding licences across VARA, SCA and free-zone regulators.

   dlapiper.com u.ae

Crypto license in UAE: FAQ

Timeline of decisions

1. 21 May 2026Decision
   Crypto Exchange Kraken Secures VARA License to Launch in Dubai

   Decrypt

2. 7 Feb 2023Law · official
   VARA Publishes Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023

   Dubai's VARA adopted its full licensing rulebook, four compulsory and seven activity-specific rulebooks, covering advisory, broker-dealer, custody, exchange, lending, management, and transfer/settlement services. Existing VASPs were required to submit licence applications by November 2023, operationalising the world's most comprehensive bespoke crypto-licensing regime.

   UAE Government Official Platform

Sources

1. 1.vara.ae/en/
2. 2.rulebooks.vara.ae/
3. 3.rulebooks.vara.ae/rulebook/cabinet-decision-no-1112022-regulation-virtual-assets-and-th
4. 4.uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/1623/download
5. 5.rulebook.centralbank.ae/en/rulebook/payment-token-services-regulation
6. 6.adgm.com/media/announcements/fsra-updates-its-virtual-asset-regulatory-framewo
7. 7.adgm.com/documents/legal-framework/guidance-and-policy/fsra/guidance-virtual-a
8. 8.u.ae/en/about-the-uae/digital-uae/regulatory-framework/regulation-of-digit
9. 9.insightplus.bakermckenzie.com/bm/tax/united-arab-emirates-introduced-key-provisions-relating-to-vir
10. 10.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/uae-digital-asset-regulation-payment-tokens-transiti
11. 11.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/the-uae-cryptocurrency-and-digital-asset-reg
12. 12.bdo.global/en-gb/insights/tax/indirect-tax/united-arab-emirates-crypto-and-fund-