ARP Digital gets second license in GCC to offer on and off ramp crypto services
ARP Digital, a regulated digital capital infrastructure platform, has secured crypto Broker-Dealer license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). This comes after it received its preliminary license in April 2026. ARP Digital now holds two regulated licenses one in Bahrain as a Category 3 crypto asset service provider licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain. A category 3 license allows ARP Digital to offer crypto trading service as an agent and as a principle as well as offering custodial and investment management services.
The firm operates an integrated suite of institutional services, including an OTC liquidity desk, international corridor settlement rails, on- and off-ramp conversion infrastructure, and regulated wealth management services.
For its UAE license, ARP Digital will be able to offer regulated digital asset conversion to local fiat currency. This will be offered to institutional clients such as UAE-domiciled corporations, capital market participants and qualified investors. Already ARP Digital is offering on and off ramp services from USD stablecoins to local currencies.
In the past two years, 2024 and 2025 the UAE received more than $56 billion in digital asset value.
Abdulaziz Kanoo, Co-Founder of ARP Digital noted that the license was a defining milestone, especially given that the UAE has established itself as one of the region’s most important digital asset markets.
He noted, “With this approval, we are well positioned to provide institutions with a regulated, secure gateway to access digital assets and participate in the next phase of the region’s digital economy.”
“The appetite from corporates has always been there, particularly in markets like the UAE,” said Abdulla Kanoo, Co-Founder of ARP Digital. “Until now, however, the regulated infrastructure needed to deploy digital asset capital at scale simply didn’t exist. As digital assets become an increasingly important component of global capital markets, we are building the infrastructure that allows financial institutions to integrate them into their operations.”
ARP Digital through its Bahrain license has already processed over $3.5 billion in volume for more than 450 institutional and corporate counterparties, with 4x year-on-year growth in 2025. In 2025, ARP Digital, partnered with Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), a major banking institution in the GCC to introduce regulated stablecoin infrastructure to enhance cross-border settlement capabilities enabling seamless transfer and conversion between digital assets and fiat currencies.
