Kraken-linked Payward FZCO holds an active virtual asset service provider licence in Dubai, according to the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority's public register, establishing a full licence rather than merely conditional approval for its local business.
The register dates issuance to October 6, 2026, under reference VL/26/10/002. The development drew wider reporting on October 12, but the licence should not be described as newly issued on October 13 or as proof that every planned UAE service has already launched.
The register identifies the entity and activities
VARA lists management and investment services and broker-dealer services for Payward FZCO. Its register distinguishes licensed providers from those holding in-principle approval: applicants at the conditional stage cannot initiate virtual asset operations or serve clients before obtaining a full licence.
Kraken's May announcement described its proposed UAE expansion through a locally regulated Payward subsidiary, including dirham funding and access to global order books. Those earlier plans supply context for the licence, but do not independently confirm that deposits, withdrawals or specific trading products are available now.
A licence and a working customer service are separate milestones. The former identifies the permission granted to a named legal entity. The latter requires the relevant onboarding, funding arrangements and operational systems to be in place. A register entry cannot substitute for checking the service actually offered to a particular customer.
Dubai's permission is not a universal approval
The authority regulates virtual assets across Dubai's mainland and free zones except the Dubai International Financial Centre. That boundary matters when comparing announcements from different UAE financial centres: they do not all come from the same regulator or confer interchangeable permissions.
Our reporting on 3iQ's conditional Abu Dhabi approval illustrates a different licensing stage in a different jurisdiction. It is useful context for reading the terminology, not a claim that Payward and 3iQ have equivalent permissions or offer the same services.
For a prospective customer, the practical starting point is the exact contracting entity. A global exchange brand can operate through different companies in different places. The supported products, eligible users and applicable terms should be checked against the local company and its permission rather than inferred from another region's website.
What would demonstrate a rollout
Evidence of an operating launch would include current local service terms, confirmed onboarding availability and explicit notices establishing which funding and trading functions are live. A plan for dirham access is not the same as confirmation that a customer's transfer can be processed today.
The licensed activity categories also should not be expanded into an assumed entitlement to every derivative, yield product or tokenised instrument discussed elsewhere by the group. Those products require their own scope and availability checks.
The concrete development is that Payward's Dubai entity appears in the full-licence register with active status. That advances the regulatory foundation for its regional plans. The remaining reporting task is to establish what becomes operational and when, without confusing licence issuance, announcement dates and customer access.