Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) just issued its 50th license to a crypto firm. The latest approval went to Tribe Tokenisation FZE, a tokenized assets platform.
Here’s the catch: having a license doesn’t mean a company is actually up and running. A VARA spokesperson confirmed that newly licensed firms go through a controlled operationalization period before they can onboard customers or offer services. At the end of 2025, only 39 of those 50 licensed VASPs were fully operational. The 2026 figure is still being validated.
Dubai has spent the last few years building itself into a crypto hub. The emirate established VARA back in March 2022 as a dedicated crypto regulator — a standalone framework designed to attract digital asset businesses.
The 50-license milestone puts Dubai ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore on raw numbers. Singapore’s Monetary Authority lists 37 major payment institutions authorized for digital payment token services. But the categories aren’t identical across jurisdictions, so direct comparisons are tricky.
Still, it’s a signal. Dubai is serious about competing for regulated crypto business, and the licensing pipeline shows no sign of slowing down.
