Revolut has secured in-principle approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to offer broker-dealer, management and investment, and exchange services in the UAE, moving the fintech a step closer to launching regulated crypto for its customers in the country.
The approval covers Revolut’s Virtual Assets Service Provider (VASP) Licence and marks a milestone in the company’s expansion into a market it has spent the past year building toward. Revolut, which serves more than 75 million customers worldwide, must still obtain the relevant final regulatory approvals from VARA before it can begin offering the services, joining a licensed roster the regulator has expanded through recent approvals for firms such as Animoca Brands and prime brokerage provider LTP.
Run Crypto Through Its App and Revolut X
Revolut intends to deliver the approved virtual asset services through its retail app and its standalone exchange, Revolut X, once it clears the remaining requirements. Eligible customers in the UAE would then be able to buy, sell, and hold digital assets within a regulated framework.
The VASP approval follows a separate authorisation the company received this year from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) for its payments activities, a licensing cycle that opened with in-principle approval in September 2025 and closed with its stored value facilities and retail payment services licences in June 2026. The company has framed the two approvals as part of a plan to build a locally regulated, end-to-end financial ecosystem in the country rather than a single-product entry.
Joseph Khair, Head of Revolut Digital Assets FZE, UAE, tied the approval to the country’s regulatory direction, saying “The UAE continues to demonstrate global leadership in establishing a robust and transparent framework” for virtual assets. He added that the approval sets the foundation for Revolut to introduce its virtual asset services within a regulated environment and supports VARA’s goal of fostering a safe, transparent, and innovation-driven ecosystem.
Revolut Positions the UAE Alongside Its UK and EEA Crypto Markets
The approval extends a crypto business that the company already runs in the UK and the European Economic Area, where it counts more than 16 million crypto customers globally. That European operation is adjusting under MiCA, with the company set to reject new USDT deposits from July 30 before removing the stablecoin from eligible accounts under its crypto-asset service provider licence from Cyprus’s regulator.
Revolut has positioned the UAE offering as part of a wider push to become the primary financial app for the Web3 community, and it lists the country as the next market to come online after the UK and European Economic Area (EEA). Revolut has not attached a launch date to the UAE rollout, and the offering remains conditional on final sign-off from VARA.
