Overview for education, not legal advice. Rules change — check the official sources. Last reviewed 20 October 2026.
| Regulators | Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai; Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) at federal level; Central Bank of the UAE; FSRA in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM); DFSA in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). |
|---|---|
| Main laws | Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai and VARA's 2023 regulations and rulebooks; federal SCA rules on virtual assets; Central Bank regulation on payment token services (2024); ADGM and DIFC frameworks. |
| What is covered | Licensing of virtual asset service providers by activity; marketing and promotion; payment tokens; anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. |
Several regulators, one country
The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates. Financial regulation is shared between federal authorities and, in two financial free zones, independent regulators that apply their own legal frameworks based largely on common law. For crypto-assets — usually called virtual assets in the UAE — this means that the rules a business follows depend on where it is established and what it does.
Dubai: VARA
Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022 established the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the first authority in the region dedicated to virtual assets. VARA regulates virtual asset activities in the Emirate of Dubai, except within the Dubai International Financial Centre, which has its own regulator.
In 2023 VARA issued its Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations, together with rulebooks on topics such as company governance, compliance and risk management, technology and information, and market conduct. Licences are granted by activity — for example exchange, broker-dealer, custody, transfer and settlement, lending and borrowing, and issuance of virtual assets. VARA also has rules on marketing, which require promotions to be fair and clear and to carry appropriate risk disclaimers.
Federal level: the SCA and the Central Bank
The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) regulates virtual asset activities at federal level in the mainland, and it has coordinated with VARA on the division of responsibilities for businesses based in Dubai. The Central Bank of the UAE regulates payment-related activity and oversees anti-money laundering compliance for the institutions it supervises. In 2024 it issued a regulation on payment token services, setting rules for issuing payment tokens and for their use in payments in the UAE mainland.
Financial free zones
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), through its Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), introduced a framework for crypto-asset activities in 2018, one of the earliest comprehensive regimes. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), through the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), introduced a regime for crypto tokens in 2022, under which the DFSA decides which tokens may be used in regulated activities in the centre.
Firms in these zones are licensed by the zone regulator and follow its rules, which differ in detail from VARA's and the SCA's.
Anti-money laundering and the international context
Anti-money laundering obligations apply across all these regimes, based on federal law and international standards. In March 2022 the FATF placed the UAE on its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring; it was removed from that list in February 2024 after the FATF assessed that it had completed its action plan. The FATF's assessments are a useful source for understanding how anti-money laundering supervision of virtual asset businesses has developed.
Timeline at a glance
- 2018 — ADGM introduces its framework for crypto-asset activities.
- March 2022 — the FATF places the UAE under increased monitoring.
- 2022 — Dubai Law No. 4 establishes VARA; the DIFC introduces its crypto token regime.
- 2023 — VARA issues its Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations and rulebooks.
- February 2024 — the FATF removes the UAE from its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.
- 2024 — the Central Bank issues its regulation on payment token services.
How the UAE compares
The UAE combines features seen elsewhere. Its activity-based licences resemble the EU's list of crypto-asset services under MiCA, while the coexistence of several regulators in one country is more reminiscent of the United States — except that in the UAE the split follows geography (emirate and free zone) rather than the legal nature of the token. The free zones' frameworks, based on common-law principles, will feel familiar to readers who know UK financial regulation. For anyone comparing jurisdictions, the key practical step is the same: identify which authority licenses the specific activity in the specific place, and read that authority's rules.
Promotions and public warnings
A recurring theme across UAE regulators is control over how virtual asset services are promoted. Promotions are expected to be fair, clear and not misleading, and to make risks visible, and regulators have issued public warnings about firms offering or promoting services without the necessary licence. For readers, a licence reference and the name of the licensing authority in a promotion is a useful first check — but it should always be confirmed on the authority's own public register, because licence details can be copied by impostors. Checking the register also shows which activities the licence actually covers, and whether it has been suspended or withdrawn.
What this means for learners
- Identify the right regulator first. A firm in DIFC is licensed by the DFSA, one in ADGM by the FSRA, one in Dubai outside DIFC by VARA, and mainland activities fall under federal authorities.
- Check the public registers that VARA, the FSRA and the DFSA publish, and the warnings that UAE regulators issue about unlicensed firms.
- Licence scope matters. Licences are granted for specific activities; a firm licensed for one activity is not automatically allowed to carry out another.
Official sources
Overview for education, not legal advice. Rules change — check the official sources. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Nothing here is an offer or a recommendation to use any crypto-asset service.