Payward has secured full VARA approval, paving the way for Kraken to launch regulated crypto services in the UAE.
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has received Full Market Approval from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), allowing it to operate as a regulated Virtual Asset Service Provider serving retail, professional, and institutional investors. Full Market Approval is the final stage of VARA’s licensing process and authorises Payward to begin regulated activity in Dubai. It follows the preliminary approval Payward received in May 2026, which permitted the entity to complete its operational set-up ahead of client onboarding.
Products at launch and planned additions
At launch, Kraken clients in the UAE will be able to trade spot and margin using AED-denominated pairs and fund and withdraw directly in dirhams. Clients will also have access to on-chain staking, xStocks, and Krak for crypto transfers, while institutional clients will gain access to OTC spot trading and Kraken Prime. Local currency funding and AED trading pairs allow clients to move money in and out of the platform in dirhams rather than through other currencies.
Further products, including crypto derivatives and an expanded range of yield opportunities, are expected to follow later in 2026 and into 2027, subject to regulatory approval. Payward also plans to make its infrastructure available to regional partners through embedded trading as a service, extending its presence in the UAE beyond Kraken’s direct client offering to firms that want to provide trading to their own customers.
Regulatory footprint and shared infrastructure
Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, stated that clients in the UAE will have access from launch to the same order book and multi-asset coverage that Kraken operates in its other markets. According to Sethi, Payward’s regulatory infrastructure connects UAE clients directly to Kraken’s liquidity and to a growing range of opportunities across digital assets. The launch forms part of Payward’s effort to build regulated, on-the-ground operations in key financial centres, and the company currently holds more than 100 licences and registrations across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East.
Payward provides the infrastructure layer behind Kraken and other products including NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, and CF Benchmarks. These run on a shared architecture comprising a single global liquidity pool, a unified risk and margin engine, one collateral and settlement system, and one compliance and licensing framework. This structure allows the UAE operation to connect to Payward’s core trading network rather than operating as a separate local venue, which is what enables Kraken to offer UAE clients the same order book available in its other markets.
