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Dubai authority to work with global regulators to create borderless system for UAE crypto firms
Despite the strides it has made, experts said companies in the crypto space in the country are facing some challenges
- PUBLISHED: Thu 1 May 2025, 6:33 PM
Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) is reaching out to other global regulators in a bid to create a system where cryptocurrency firms operating in the UAE can start operating globally. The CEO of the authority, Mathew White, said such harmonisation- or borderless system- could be a possibility.
“We're of the mindset that we will share whatever information that we can to help other regulators understand the risks and for them to set up their own regimes,” he said. “What that will then allow us to do is to establish a number of key bilateral relationships that we'll have in place. Eventually, we'll get to the point where we'll have harmonisation. It's just a matter of time. I'm quite excited about the conversations that we're having.”
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White was speaking at the Token2049 Dubai event which took place at Madinat Jumeirah on April 30 and May 1. With over 500 side sessions, the event brought together over 15,000 experts and crypto decision-makers to exchange ideas and network. It is part of a global conference series that will take place at different locations around the world.
UAE global leader of crypto
According to Rifad Mahasneh from OFX, the world’s second biggest cryptocurrency exchange, it was the country’s innovation and regulation that prompted the company to move to the UAE.
“If you're in crypto, this is a place where the biggest traders are, the market makers are here, so it makes complete sense,” he said. “In terms of regulatory clarity, this is one of the best places in the world while other markets have yet to figure out how to regulate crypto. The UAE went ahead and regulated crypto in the most innovative fashion and kept up with the innovation.
"They didn't just stop with the first iteration of regulation. They kept up with the industry and continued to innovate and also keep up with the regulations as we go, which is very important in a very fast-moving industry.”
He added that it has also become increasingly easy to find “experienced talent” in the UAE. “Five years ago, finding talent in the crypto space wasn't easy but today, you're finding experienced talent that operated in regulated platforms, so it's much better and you have access to global talent.”
Faisal Al Hammadi, managing partner at Further Ventures that invests in Web 3, said UAE has seen a lot of cryptocurrency-related companies grow. “One key product that was launched about two years ago was a large-scale Bitcoin mining company called Zero2,” e said. “The UAE now has about 500 megawatts of Bitcoin mining, and it's probably the largest here in the region. We have a partnership with a company called Marathon Digital, which is a publicly listed company among the top five miners globally.”
Challenges
Despite the strides it has made, companies in the crypto space in the country are facing some challenges. “We'd like to see innovation coming in this sector from the UAE,” said Rifad. “In the first phase, a lot of global platforms like ours moved here but your third-party vendors or partners are global or non-UAE companies. There's a lot of opportunity that can come out of here and more founders need to be encouraged to set up in this space.”
According to Mathew, the biggest challenge the authority has faced is ensuring quality. “At the moment, there's a significant variation in the quality of applications that we see,” he said. “That slows the process down. Quality is really, really important. We're not compromising on that.”
