March 16, 2022
By Tiasha Chatterjee
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officially announced on his Twitter handle on March 9 that UAE has successfully adopted its first law to regulate crypto assets.
This law is aimed to work towards the development and establishment of UAE and Dubai as vital players in the future virtual assets worldwide. Rashid Al Maktoum announced in the tweet that Dubai has established an independent authority to oversee the development of the best business environment in the world of virtual assets in terms of regulation, licensing, and governance.
The law governing virtual assets that have been established will be overseen by the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), which includes crypto trading, token issuance, amongst others. VARA, which is an independent authority under the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority, shall be overseeing the regulation of crypto assets in Dubai in the following ways –
- It shall serve as a regulator that oversees all crypto activities, and also its related service providers.
- VARA is responsible for supervising the trading and issuing of virtual assets and virtual tokens.
- It shall authorize and regulate virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
- It must make sure that the highest standards of protection are maintained for beneficiaries’ personal data.
- It shall monitor virtual asset transactions to reduce risks of price manipulation.
- VARA will be authorizing and regulating all crypto trading platforms that offer crypto and fiat currency exchanges.
- The new law will also regulate companies that offer crypto transfer, custody, and management services.
The new law is applicable throughout Dubai, except for the state-owned financial free zone, Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). It is working on its own crypto regulation.
Dubai has already become a favored destination for the crypto and web 3.0 community, and the latest step has further strengthened its foothold in the crypto world.
About the author
Tiasha Chatterjee is a content writer with a great curiosity to learn about new things. Combining this curiosity with her interest in the English language, she loves to write about different subjects, including blockchain. When not writing, you’ll find her surrounded by her cats, soaking up another book.
