Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has secured Full Market Approval from Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the final stage of the emirate's licensing process for virtual asset service providers. The approval permits Payward to operate a regulated platform serving retail, professional, and institutional investors across the UAE.
Kraken expects to launch for UAE clients within the coming weeks, offering spot and margin trading in AED-denominated pairs alongside direct dirham deposits and withdrawals. The platform will also provide on-chain staking, tokenized stocks through xStocks, and Krak for crypto transfers at launch.
Institutional clients will have access to over-the-counter spot trading and Kraken Prime services from day one. Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, stated that clients would receive "the same order book and multi-asset coverage we run in every other market" under "one of the clearest regulatory frameworks in the world."
The Full Market Approval follows preliminary approval granted in May 2026, which allowed the entity to complete operational setup ahead of client onboarding.
Additional products including crypto derivatives and expanded yield opportunities are planned for later in 2026 and into 2027, subject to regulatory approval. Payward also intends to make its infrastructure available to regional partners through embedded trading as a service.
Payward currently holds more than 100 licenses and registrations worldwide across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East.
