Dubai Regulator VARA Sanctions 19 Crypto Firms Operating Without Licenses – Fines Up to $163K Each

The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has sanctioned 19 crypto firms for operating unlicensed Virtual Asset operations and violating VARA’s Marketing ￰1￱ penalties included cease-and-desist orders alongside fines between AED 100,000 ($27,300) and AED 600,000 ($163,000), adjusted according to the severity and extent of each violation. A Tuesday official statement confirmed the sanctions serve as a public warning to consumers, investors, and institutions that involvement with unlicensed operators presents substantial financial, legal, and reputational risks.) (@varadubai) October 3, 2025 This action follows similar enforcement in October 2024, when the regulator fined seven unlicensed crypto ￰2￱ that earlier round, fines ranged from AED 50,000 ($13,612) to AED 100,000 ($27,225), based on the nature and severity of ￰3￱ 2024, VARA strengthened its crypto marketing requirements , mandating disclaimers on promotional ￰4￱ regulator also required prior authorization before marketing products and services to citizens and ￰5￱ regulations aim to prevent the dissemination of misleading information and prioritize consumer ￰6￱ regulations address various aspects of marketing communications, including the proper use of language and the importance of providing full and clear ￰7￱ objective is to ensure consumers understand the risks and opportunities associated with virtual ￰8￱ regulation violations can result in fines up to AED 10,000,000 ($2.7 million) .

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has updated its marketing regulations as part of its broader framework for VASPs. #Dubai #CryptoRegulations ￰0￱ — ￰9￱ (@cryptonews) September 26, 2024 Beyond marketing, entities providing virtual asset services in or from Dubai must secure a VARA ￰10￱ applies to activities like Virtual Asset Issuance, Trading Platforms, and Custody ￰11￱ process begins with applying for Initial Approval to establish operations, then progressing to a full VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) ￰12￱ platforms, including Crypto. com, Bybit , Deribit , and HashKey Group , have complied with these requirements by obtaining provisional approval from VARA, enabling them to offer virtual asset exchange services to retail, institutional, and qualified investors in ￰13￱ Dubai Became the World’s Most-Obsessed Crypto Nation These developments occur as the UAE continues to establish itself as a regional center for blockchain innovation and crypto finance, with regulatory clarity attracting major global ￰14￱ that White House AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks met with top UAE officials in March to discuss deeper collaboration in emerging technologies and investment opportunities between the two ￰15￱ the meeting, a state-backed investment firm, MGX in Abu Dhabi, invested $2 billion into Binance using USD1 , a stablecoin developed by World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture closely connected to the Trump family.

I explored with @davidsacks47 , the Special Advisor on AI and Crypto, the transformative effects of artificial intelligence across various sectors, the expanding role of digital currencies in reshaping financial systems, and the investment opportunities emerging at their… ￰16￱ — Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (@hhtbzayed) March 20, 2025 A recent study reveals the UAE ranked first among the world’s “most crypto-obsessed countries” in 2025, recording exceptional crypto adoption growth of 210%. The UAE also scored 98.4%, with the highest crypto ownership rate at 25.3%. Dubai is now becoming a key destination for crypto and stablecoin ventures seeking alternatives to the EU’s newly implemented Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) ￰17￱ the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), a Chainalysis report affirmed that the UAE is now the third-largest crypto economy in the ￰18￱ July 2023 and June 2024 alone, the UAE received over $30 billion in crypto, ranking among the top 40 globally.), also recently announced plans to launch a stablecoin pegged to the Dirham.