Digital asset investment platform Fasset was granted an operational license on Nov. 29, according to a listing on the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) website.
The Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license granted to Fasset allows it to perform broker-dealer services legally in Dubai. The conditions of the license say that the platform is authorized to serve local institutional investors, “qualified investors” and retail investors.
The company was initially based in London, though it now operates in Indonesia and Dubai. Fasset’s website also offers services in Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey.
The Fasset CEO, Mohammad Raafi Hossain, told Cointelegraph that Dubai is the “great place” for basing a crypto business with the globally recognized high standards of the VARA licensing system.
"The Emirate's proactive approach in embracing blockchain and cryptocurrency means it's cultivating a thriving crypto scene at the same time as providing the guardrails that ensure investor protection.”
He also pointed to the UAE being a hub for large migrant communities and that crypto can be particularly useful in this case.
“Crypto’s cross-border nature makes this a very lucrative and important corridor for cross-border value transfer."
He said Fasset intends to use its newly received VARA license to “connect these people with ‘home’ markets."
Related: Standard Chartered’s venture arm to set up crypto fund in UAE
VARA, the issuing regulator, is the sole authority for enforcing regulations on digital assets in Dubai. Earlier in November, the VARA shuffled around its leadership as it prepared to expand operations and “ramp up to full-scale market operations” in 2024.
On Nov. 15, VARA issued the institutional crypto custodian Hex Trust a VASP license. Regulators in Dubai have also issued minimal viable product or VASP licenses to prominent crypto companies, including Binance, Bybit, Laser Digital Middle East, OKX, Crypto.com and Huobi.
Recently, Binance said it is considering making the United Arab Emirates a “focal point” for its future operations.
These developments follow an announcement from the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 8 that it plans to tighten its rules on unlicensed VASPs and impose fines on noncompliance.
The new guidance stressed that authorities expect all licensed financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and professions and officially licensed VASPs to report transactions from suspicious parties via “whistle-blowing mechanisms.”
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