UAE’s VARA Licenses BitGo to Offer Institutional Crypto Services in UAE

With the VARA broker-dealer licence in place, BitGo MENA will now be able to offer a comprehensive range of trading services, including over-the-counter and electronic spot trading across a wide spectrum of digital assets and stablecoins through its institutional trading platform. The new regulatory status allows the company to provide institutional investors access to aggregated liquidity from multiple leading market makers and exchanges, giving clients competitive pricing and improved execution reliability.

The services will be seamlessly integrated with BitGo’s regulated custody solutions, allowing clients to store and trade assets within a single, secure environment supported by local banking channels in both UAE dirhams and U.S. dollars.

Ben Choy, General Manager of BitGo MENA, described the licence as a major milestone that underscores Dubai’s forward-looking regulatory stance. “Receiving our broker-dealer licence from VARA is a milestone for BitGo MENA and a testament to both our commitment to compliance and the strength of Dubai’s progressive regulatory environment,” he said.

Nick Coombs, Managing Director of MENA Sales, added, “This milestone empowers us to offer institutional-grade trading services seamlessly integrated with our VARA-regulated and insured custody infrastructure, ensuring clients the ability to trade with security and confidence.”

In recent years, Gulf states, particularly the United Arab Emirates, have moved aggressively to attract blockchain and financial technology firms by building comprehensive legal frameworks. VARA, established in 2022 to oversee the virtual asset sector in Dubai, has become central to this strategy. The granting of a broker-dealer licence to BitGo MENA demonstrates that the authority’s rulebook is not merely theoretical but is now being applied in practice, signaling Dubai’s readiness to host regulated digital-asset operations.

For institutional players, the combination of trading and custody under one regulated framework represents a meaningful advancement. Many funds, asset managers, and corporations remain hesitant to trade cryptocurrencies without strong custodial safeguards. By merging VARA-regulated trading with insured custody infrastructure, BitGo’s model bridges one of the most persistent gaps in institutional adoption.

Equally important is BitGo’s approach to liquidity aggregation. Digital-asset markets are often fragmented across multiple venues, creating inefficiencies and execution challenges. BitGo’s strategy of consolidating liquidity from a range of exchanges and market makers could help mitigate slippage and reduce counterparty risk, offering institutions a level of depth and reliability that has been lacking in unregulated environments.

Dubai’s ambition to position itself as a global financial innovation centre is further advanced by this development. Locally licensed and supervised digital-asset intermediaries lower entry barriers for regional institutions, such as family offices, hedge funds, and corporate treasuries, seeking exposure to crypto markets without the operational or legal uncertainties that come with unregulated offshore platforms.

The presence of a globally recognized firm like BitGo also raises the competitive standard for market infrastructure providers in the MENA region, potentially driving further innovation and attracting complementary services such as compliance technology, digital-asset insurance, and blockchain-based settlement systems.

Nonetheless, the licence also comes with significant responsibilities. Sustained compliance with VARA’s reporting, auditing, and risk-management obligations will be crucial. Regulated entities are expected to maintain rigorous internal controls, ensure transparent governance, and submit to periodic oversight. As BitGo combines its trading and custody operations, it will need to manage operational dependencies, liquidity exposure, and maintain strong compliance and verification standards. Fulfilling these obligations is expected to reinforce confidence in Dubai’s regulated digital-asset market.

Market volatility remains a persistent challenge. Even within a regulated environment, crypto-asset prices can fluctuate dramatically, potentially testing risk models and capital buffers. Institutional participants will therefore watch closely to see how BitGo’s infrastructure performs during periods of market stress.

Meanwhile, competition in the region is likely to intensify as other global firms seek similar licences from VARA or Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). BitGo’s ability to differentiate through service quality, execution efficiency, and compliance integrity will determine its long-term success.

Beyond its immediate business implications, BitGo’s licensing represents a broader signal of maturity for the global digital-asset ecosystem. It demonstrates that institutional-grade firms can operate within clear, enforceable rules while still offering market-level performance and innovation. Should the Dubai model prove successful, it may serve as a template for other jurisdictions aiming to balance regulation with technological progress.

For institutional investors, the entry of regulated players like BitGo into the Dubai market could catalyze further participation. Having local, licensed infrastructure reduces regulatory uncertainty and operational risk, encouraging banks, funds, and corporates to consider digital-asset exposure as part of their portfolios. At the same time, the presence of a VARA-supervised broker-dealer enhances confidence among policymakers and the public that crypto-related activities can be properly governed, monitored, and integrated into broader financial systems.

BitGo’s latest milestone continues a pattern of strategic expansion aligned with local regulatory clarity. In doing so, it reinforces Dubai’s position as one of the most proactive jurisdictions globally in aligning innovation with oversight, a model that could help define the next chapter of institutional digital finance.