Dubai's VARA grants broker-dealer license to ARP Digital
ARP Digital receives authorization to provide regulated stablecoin and digital asset exchange services into UAE dirhams, marking its expansion across the Gulf region from its Bahrain base.
Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has granted a broker-dealer license to ARP Digital, a provider of institutional digital asset infrastructure. The authorization enables the Bahrain-headquartered company to facilitate regulated exchange services between digital assets and the United Arab Emirates dirham.
The licensing agreement encompasses services for UAE-based corporations, participants in capital markets, and qualified investors, as stated by ARP Digital. This includes facilitating exchanges between stablecoins and the dirham currency. The organization indicated it will additionally offer institutions a compliant pathway for converting digital asset holdings for investment into local UAE-based assets.
This regulatory approval represents ARP Digital's expansion into its second regulated market within the Gulf region. The company holds licensing from the Central Bank of Bahrain, and reports having facilitated transactions exceeding $3.5 billion in volume across more than 450 institutional and corporate clients, demonstrating a fourfold increase in year-over-year growth during 2025.
The institutional services portfolio offered by ARP Digital encompasses over-the-counter liquidity provision, cross-border settlement solutions, fiat currency on-ramps and off-ramps, and wealth management services.
This regulatory authorization arrives amid Dubai's ongoing expansion of its regulated digital asset industry. The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority issued its 50th virtual asset service provider license in July. VARA, which was established in 2022, maintains oversight over the provision, utilization, and exchange of virtual assets within and originating from Dubai.
On Tuesday, Flowdesk, a cryptocurrency market maker with backing from Coinbase Ventures and BlackRock, was also granted a complete VARA broker-dealer license, enabling the firm to provide services to qualified and institutional investors operating in and from the emirate.