The United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues to run one of the world’s most crypto-friendly jurisdictions. Crypto trading is legal, individuals generally pay no personal income tax, and the country is increasingly watched by five regulators working in parallel rather than one.
In 2026, that framework matured fast. The securities regulator was abolished and rebuilt in January, a new federal virtual-asset licensing decision landed in February, Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) tightened its rulebook and token-issuance requirements, Dubai moved tokenized real estate into a live secondary market, and by mid-July, VARA had both punished unlicensed offshore exchanges and approved a major European fintech to launch crypto services in Dubai.
This report covers all of it.
The UAE has steadily built its crypto regulations over the past few years. Dubai launched VARA in 2022 as the world’s first dedicated crypto regulator, while Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) introduced their own rules for their financial free zones.
In 2024, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) brought in rules for payment tokens, banned algorithmic stablecoins and privacy tokens for payments, and the UAE removed the 5% VAT on most crypto transactions.
In 2025, the government expanded federal oversight, introduced stricter licensing and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules, started rolling out Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) reporting, and increased penalties for unlicensed crypto activity.
These changes laid the foundation for the UAE’s stronger and more complex crypto framework in 2026.
Federal Decree-Laws No. 32 and No. 33 of 2025 took effect on January 1, abolishing the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and replacing it with the Capital Market Authority (CMA) as an independent federal regulator. The laws also formally brought investment-related virtual assets within the federal capital-markets perimeter as financial products.
The CMA framework primarily covers investment-related virtual assets, exchanges, custody, brokerage, advisory, portfolio management and alternative trading systems outside the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and ADGM, while payment tokens remain under the CBUAE.
The same day, ADGM’s FSRA brought its finalised fiat-referenced-token framework into force. The framework expanded the regulated activities that can be carried out using fiat-referenced tokens and introduced risk-based requirements for emerging business models.
On January 12, the DFSA’s amended crypto-token regime for DIFC firms took effect. Responsibility for assessing token suitability shifted to regulated firms themselves rather than a prescribed list of recognised crypto tokens.
DIFC firms must now conduct and document their own suitability assessments. The DFSA continues to assess fiat tokens separately, including EURC, USDC and RLUSD.
The CMA issued Decision No. 4/R.M/2026, replacing the previous federal Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) framework with a three-module rulebook covering the General Framework Module, Business Regulation Module and Alternative Trading System Module.
The decision established eight licensed virtual-asset financial activities, with minimum capital requirements ranging from AED 500,000 to AED 4 million. It also created a CMA-approved token “Green List” and introduced hard prohibitions on privacy tokens and algorithmic tokens.
The framework also introduced controller approval requirements. Any ownership change crossing the 30% or 50% threshold requires prior written CMA approval.
The CMA’s reach can also extend beyond companies physically based onshore if they target UAE clients.
The decision sits alongside VARA, FSRA, DFSA and CBUAE rather than replacing them.
Separately, the UAE Ministry of Finance issued Ministerial Decision No. 336 of 2025, formally designating VARA as a competent authority for corporate-tax purposes related to virtual-asset activity.
February also brought a major development for tokenized real estate. On February 20, secondary-market trading for approximately 7.8 million real-estate tokens went live through PRYPCO Mint.
The tokens are linked to Dubai Land Department-registered title deeds, denominated in dirhams, and sellers can list them within a range of plus or minus 15% of the current valuation. The development moved Dubai’s tokenized-property initiative beyond the pilot stage and into regulated secondary-market execution.
VARA introduced Version 2.1 of its Exchange Services Rulebook, adding stricter governance, risk-management, disclosure and derivatives requirements for licensed VASPs.
Margin trading is permitted only where explicitly approved in a firm’s licence. Retail leverage is capped at 5:1, with a minimum initial margin of 20%.
On March 5, VARA issued Investor and Marketplace Alerts naming KuCoin- and MEXC-linked entities as unlicensed in Dubai and warning consumers against engaging with them.
On April 9, VARA published its Virtual Asset Issuance Guidance, clarifying how issuers should prepare documentation under the existing issuance framework.
The guidance is particularly important for real-world asset projects. VARA warned that tokenized RWAs qualifying as financial instruments may also fall under the CMA’s securities framework, highlighting the regulatory overlap between the two regimes.
It also tightened expectations around risk disclosures. Issuers must identify and rank material risks, while generic boilerplate disclaimers are not sufficient.
The unlicensed period cited in VARA’s later enforcement action against MEXC, through MX Global Ltd, ran through April 2026. During that period, the entity continued onboarding Dubai customers without a VARA licence and adequate KYC controls.
VARA converted its March alerts into formal enforcement actions, imposing financial penalties and cease-and-desist orders against Peken Global Limited, linked to KuCoin, and MX Global Ltd, linked to MEXC, for providing unlicensed broker-dealer and exchange services in Dubai.
The MEXC-related violation period ran from 2022 through April 2026 and included KYC failures.
VARA also took separate supervisory enforcement action against CoinMENA FZE, an already-licensed VASP, over AML programme control failures.
On June 12, VARA published new AML/CFT Business Risk Assessment guidance following its 2026 thematic review. Licensed VASPs are expected to review their risk assessments at least quarterly and base them on real operational data.
On July 15, UK-headquartered fintech Revolut received VARA in-principle approval to offer broker-dealer, exchange and investment/management virtual-asset services in the UAE.
The approval followed a Central Bank of the UAE payments licence secured by Revolut in June. The company said the approval supports plans to offer crypto trading through its retail app and its standalone Revolut X exchange to UAE customers.
The UAE has multiple compliance deadlines rather than one single crypto deadline.
Under the CMA framework, entities have until January 1, 2027, to regularise their status under the new federal framework. The compliance window for the CMA Business Regulation and Alternative Trading System Modules runs until February 13, 2027.
Separately, under Federal Decree-Law No. 6 of 2025, the CBUAE’s September 2026 deadline applies to virtual assets, DeFi protocols, stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, decentralized exchanges, wallets, bridges and supporting blockchain infrastructure falling within its regulatory perimeter.
Businesses must obtain the required approval, work with an approved entity where applicable, or stop operating within the relevant regulatory perimeter.
The UAE crypto system is split between five regulators, depending on the location and type of activity.
Dubai’s dedicated virtual-asset regulator, responsible for licensing and supervising VASPs across Dubai outside the DIFC. Its framework covers issuance, exchanges, custody, broker-dealer services, lending, advisory and derivatives.
The financial regulator of Abu Dhabi Global Market, overseeing crypto businesses operating within ADGM, including accepted virtual assets, fiat-referenced tokens, digital securities and related funds.
Regulates crypto-related financial services within the DIFC, including crypto-token financial services, custody and token suitability.
Replaced the SCA in 2026 and regulates federal investment-related virtual-asset activities outside the DIFC and ADGM. It classifies relevant virtual assets as financial products and manages the approved token Green List.
Oversees payment systems, payment tokens, AED-backed stablecoins, banking supervision and relevant DeFi infrastructure, including wallets, bridges and supporting payment-token systems.
The UAE has no single crypto licence. The regulator depends on the location and business activity, and some firms may need approvals from more than one authority.
VARA regulates Dubai outside the DIFC, CMA regulates federal investment-related activities, ADGM/FSRA covers Abu Dhabi Global Market, DFSA oversees the DIFC, and CBUAE regulates payment tokens, AED-backed stablecoins and related monetary infrastructure.
The CMA and VARA also maintain a unified VASP register, helping make licensing status visible across the federal and Dubai regulatory frameworks.
Across the regulatory system, privacy tokens and algorithmic tokens face significant restrictions or prohibitions, while payment-token rules remain under the CBUAE framework.
VARA has run an active, publicly disclosed enforcement programme through 2026.
October 2025 — VARA fined 19 firms between AED 100,000 and AED 600,000 for unlicensed virtual-asset activity and marketing-rule breaches, alongside cease-and-desist orders.
March 5, 2026 — VARA issued public Investor and Marketplace Alerts naming KuCoin-linked entities, including Phoenixfin, MEK Global, Peken Global and KuCoin Exchange EU, and MEXC-linked entities, including MEXC Estonia and MEXC Global, as unlicensed in Dubai.
June 2026 — VARA formally fined Peken Global Limited and MX Global Ltd for operating unlicensed broker-dealer and exchange services in Dubai. It also issued a separate enforcement notice against licensed VASP CoinMENA FZE over AML programme control failures.
Ongoing — VARA maintains a public regulatory-notices register and continues to identify a broader enforcement message. A licence is not a one-time approval. Licensed firms must maintain ongoing compliance with governance, AML, risk-management, disclosure and marketing requirements.
Statista projects crypto user penetration in the UAE at 32.74% in 2025, rising to 33.48% in 2026. Triple-A estimates crypto ownership at 24.4% of the population, while other industry estimates put ownership above 30%. The figures differ because they measure different things, including active users and overall ownership.
Institutional adoption is also rising. CBUAE approved Zand Bank to issue Zand AED, the UAE’s first regulated AED-backed stablecoin. Circle’s USDC received approval from ADGM’s FSRA. Revolut received VARA in-principle approval in July 2026.
Dubai’s tokenized real-estate market also moved beyond the pilot stage, with secondary-market trading launched for tokenized property and the broader Dubai Land Department and CBUAE programme attracting more than AED 18.5 million in investments.
2026 has been a major year for the UAE’s crypto sector. The country replaced the SCA with the CMA, introduced a new three-module federal VASP framework, added ownership-control requirements, strengthened VARA’s rules on derivatives and token issuance, warned about the overlap between tokenized Real-World Assets (RWAs) and securities regulation, and moved tokenized real estate into a live secondary market.
At the same time, VARA has taken action against unlicensed exchanges such as KuCoin- and MEXC-linked entities while continuing to approve major players such as Revolut.
The UAE’s crypto model is becoming more sophisticated, but also more complex. Businesses must now understand not only where they are located, but also what economic function their activity performs and whether more than one regulator has jurisdiction.
With the CBUAE’s September 2026 compliance deadline approaching and CMA transition periods extending into 2027, the next phase will test how well the UAE balances strict enforcement with its ambition to remain one of the world’s leading digital-asset hubs.
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