Binance’s branch in Dubai, Binance FZE, has been given a license to provide virtual assets by Dubai’s cryptocurrency regulator.
On Wednesday, the virtual asset exchange Binance announced that Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has granted its Dubai office, Binance FZE, a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license.
In a blog post, the exchange revealed that with this license, it plans to migrate “all UAE residents from the Binance Global Exchange to the VARA-regulated Binance FZE exchange.”
The exchange added that by the deadline of December 15, users who were residents of the United Arab Emirates would have to update their KYC information by providing specific documents.
“All products already available on the Binance Global Exchange will also be available on Binance FZE,” Binance continued, despite the move. Seven months after abandoning its application for an Abu Dhabi license due to heightened regulatory pressure, Binance was granted the VASP license.
Binance’s subsidiary, BV Investment Management, withdrew its application with the Financial Service Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market.
In a late May interview, Dominic Longman, senior executive officer at Binance Abu Dhabi stated that the exchange is “observing increasing institutional interest” for cryptocurrency in the area.
Although Bitcoin ETFs are not yet available in the United Arab Emirates, he added, regulatory procedures “can evolve based on global trends and local market demands.”
After its local company received an operational Minimum Viable Product (MVP) license from VARA in 2023 to serve institutional and qualified retail investors, Binance turned its attention to Dubai.
The same preparatory authorization from VARA was sought after by Binance in addition to other cryptocurrency exchanges like Crypto.com, Bybit, and OKX.
