Kraken parent Payward secures preliminary VARA approval for Dubai expansion

Kraken’s parent company, Payward, secured preliminary approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority for a broker-dealer, investment, and management licence, clearing a regulatory pathway for the exchange’s expansion into the United Arab Emirates.

The authorization places Kraken under VARA’s supervisory perimeter in Dubai and enables the firm to offer regulated virtual asset services in the jurisdiction, including spot, margin, and OTC trading, staking, and institutional access through Kraken Prime. Retail client activity will be limited to services explicitly permitted under VARA’s retail-access framework, Payward said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the statement, UAE clients will be able to trade through Kraken’s global orderbooks spanning Europe, the U.S., and APAC markets, while funding and withdrawals will be available in dirhams through a locally regulated Payward subsidiary.

“Clients in the UAE get the same order book, the same balance sheet, and the same multi-asset coverage we run in every other market,” Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said. “The difference is the rulebook is written down and the supervisor is local. That is what a license should mean.”

Payward stated that the Dubai expansion aligns with its broader international corporate strategy to build regulated, on-the-ground operations across key global financial hubs.

The UAE expansion follows Kraken’s rollout of CFTC-regulated crypto spot margin trading in the U.S., introduced after Payward completed its acquisition of derivatives venue Bitnomial and pursued additional licensing pathways, including a national trust charter application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Payward separately agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments firm Reap Technologies for $600million in cash and stock, issuing shares at a $20 billion valuation. The deal marks Payward’s first infrastructure acquisition in Asia.

Payward recently reported $507 million in first-quarter 2026 adjusted revenue, up 3% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA fell to $18 million from $168 million in the prior-year period.