Good day everyone,

I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the recent approval for Kraken to launch within the UAE.

Kraken in the UAE

Full market approval has been given to Payward, the parent company of Kraken, to launch their services within the UAE. The approval comes from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) and means Kraken can operate as a regulated Virtual Asset Service Provider. Their offered services will include retail, professional, and institutional investors.

This is good news for those in the UAE, who will be able to  trade spot and margin with AED-denominated pairs along with funding and withdrawing to and from their accounts with dirhams. Other benefits, such as staking and xStocks, will be available on launch with other products such as yield opportunities expected in late 2026 or early 2027.

Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken noted:

From launch, clients in the UAE get the same order book and multi-asset coverage we run in every other market, under one of the clearest regulatory frameworks in the world. Payward's regulatory infrastructure now connects them directly to Kraken's market-leading liquidity, along with a growing range of opportunities across digital assets.

The overall process for full market approval means Payward has now reached the final stage of VARA and follows on from the preliminary approval received back in March 2026. With continued efforts to build regulated, on-the-ground operations in key financial area, Payward now have more than 100 licences and registrations across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East.

Good news for crypto users within the UAE, and for Kraken as they look to continue their global growth. Payward provide the the infrastructure layer behind Kraken along with other products such as NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, and CF Benchmarks. With these products running on a unified financial infrastructure platform, they allow for customers to seamlessly hold, trade, earn, pay, and invest across asset classes.

Have a great day.

Peace. CryptoGod-1.