UAE Says No Virtual Asset Service Provider Has Been Granted an Operating Permit – The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), which regulates virtual assets in the United Arab Emirates, has not yet issued any operating licenses, according to the country’s digital economy minister, Omar Sultan Al Olama. Al Olama allegedly stated at the World Economic Forum (WEF) that no crypto exchange, including Binance and FTX, has been granted the full market product (FMP) license.
As per Al Olama’s remarks published on Laraontheblock, no crypto is yet to complete the VARA’s four-step process. Accordingly, this means “no one was able to onboard any customers even last week.” In March 2022, the VARA said it had granted Binance a minimal viable product (MVP) license which allowed it to offer an approved range of virtual asset-related services to suitably qualified retail and institutional investors in Dubai. Similar licenses have also been issued to other crypto exchange platforms.
Some cryptocurrency exchanges appear to have utilized these licenses to promote their credentials to prospective customers. The VARA has now stated that the licenses awarded to Binance and other cryptocurrency trading platforms are simply “Provisional” at stage one and “MVP-Preparatory” at stage two. According to VARA, these licenses are only provided to enable virtual assets service providers (VASPs) to meet prerequisites and commence readiness. Additionally, the regulator repeated Al Olama’s stance that no crypto business has been granted a full license.
“No VARA licensee has, to date, been awarded an MVP-Operating permit, to provide regulated services or activities to their specifically authorised market segment(s) in the Emirate. Any information or representation to the contrary is inaccurate and misleading,” the regulator clarified in a market notification on its website. Echoing Al Olama’s message at the WEF, the regulator said the MVP licensees are not allowed to offer their services to mass retail consumers “until the stage gate (4) FMP licence approval has been secured.”
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