Over 50% of VASP licenses issued by VARA Dubai

UAE now has 101 regulated Virtual Asset Service Providers and more than 50% of the licensed VASPs are in VARA ( Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) in Dubai UAE. The most recent and 50th licensed VASP is Tribe Tokenization FZE.

On LinkedIn Tribe wrote, ” It’s been a long and challenging road, but today we are pleased to announce that the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority VARA Dubai has granted Tribe its VASP license. A VARA Dubai license is not a stamp that makes an investment safe, and it is not an endorsement of any property we list.”

For those who are not familiar with Tribe, it is a Dubai-based, blockchain-powered Real-World Asset (RWA) platform specialized in offering investments in fractional real estate. It received its in principle approval from VARA back in January 2026 along with several other VASPs.

The company adds, ” We have always said Tribe is built governance-first: rights defined before capital is invited, rules written down, sequencing that is not left to discretion. The licence is external proof of the standard we hold ourselves to internally.”

It also noted that now with the license at hand and framework in place they will be offering properties that are already in the pipeline soon to the market.

In its press release, VARA Dubai noted, that since it started in 2022, the regulator has developed a licensed market related to different business models, services, and stages of the virtual asset value chain.

VARA also noted that the significance is not only in the number of licensed firms, but that these VASPs have chosen Dubai which in turn has contributed to the economic activity in the city through high skilled jobs, technology investment, physical office presence as well as demand for professional services, and international capital flows. All this supports Dubai’s Economic Agenda D33.

VARA’s licensing process assesses applicants across multiple areas including, but not limited to, governance, ownership, financial resilience, operational capability, technology, cybersecurity, risk management, compliance and anti-money laundering controls. Licensed firms remain subject to ongoing supervision and must continue to meet the conditions and requirements of their authorization.

NeosLegal ,UAE Crypto & Web3 Law Firm recently published the UAE VASP License Tracker, a public database of every active crypto license in the country. At the time of publishing in June, the tracker noted that across the UAE there were 101 VASPs, 173 licenses, and 5 regulators.

VARA with its 50 licensed VASPs has issued 75 licenses given that some VASPs hold more than one licensed activity. While the FSRA in AFGM Abu Dhabi has issued 67 licenses, DFSA in DIFC 23 licenses, and the UAE Central Bank has issued 5 licenses for payment tokens or stablecoins. Additionally the Capital Market Authority in UAE has issued 3 licenses in total.

The most prevalent licenses across the UAE are crypto/digital asset broker dealer licenses which make up 65 out of 173 licenses.

VARA and ADGM have issues 82% of all licenses. Starting in 2026 more and more licenses are being issued in the tokenization space.