Revolut has taken another step in its push to expand regulated crypto access in the Middle East, receiving in-principle approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to provide crypto-related services in the United Arab Emirates.
In a notice shared on Wednesday, the UK-based financial group said VARA’s approval follows permission from the Central Bank of the UAE for payment activities. The regulator’s green light, Revolut added, would allow the company to offer broker-dealer, asset management and investment, and exchange services to users in the UAE—via the Revolut app and its Revolut X trading venue.
Key takeaways
- VARA granted Revolut in-principle approval for multiple virtual asset business lines in the UAE.
- The approval comes after the UAE Central Bank cleared Revolut for payment-related activities.
- Revolut says its UAE rollout will support users buying, selling, and holding digital assets through the app and Revolut X.
- Revolut’s UAE expansion follows its UK banking license approval in March, as the firm pursues broader chartering plans.
- Revolut is also managing regulatory risk in Europe, including plans to delist the USDT stablecoin in certain markets next month.
VARA approval positions Revolut for UAE virtual asset services
Revolut framed the VARA approval as a foundation for bringing its “trusted virtual asset services” into a regulated environment. Joseph Khair, head of digital assets at Revolut’s UAE free zone establishment, said the decision supports the company’s ability to introduce its services while operating under local oversight.
Under the approval, Revolut would be able to operate across key categories of crypto-related activity: brokerage/dealer services, management and investment functions, and exchange services. Revolut also indicated that the planned offering is designed for UAE-based customers, enabling them to buy, sell, and hold digital assets through the Revolut app and the Revolut X platform.
How the UAE move fits Revolut’s broader licensing strategy
The UAE authorization marks a continuation of Revolut’s multi-region expansion strategy that has increasingly relied on banking and financial regulatory milestones to support digital asset offerings.
Earlier this year, Revolut reported that it received a UK banking license in March. The company has said it also has similar applications pending in the United States for a banking charter, and in Peru for related licensing, as part of its effort to build a globally consistent regulatory footprint.
In the UAE, VARA’s list of licensed firms provides additional context. At the time of publication, VARA had 51 companies listed as licensed to offer crypto-related services in the country, while 22 entities had received in-principle approval. That approval category is particularly important for companies seeking to prepare deployments ahead of full authorization.
Competitive landscape: Kraken’s regional plans already underway
Revolut is not the only major financial firm moving through VARA’s authorization pathway. VARA previously issued preliminary approval to Payward’s parent company—crypto exchange Kraken—in May, according to earlier coverage. That approval suggested Kraken’s presence in the region was expected to expand toward a fuller launch in the near term.
For users, these approvals matter because they signal which platforms are moving from standalone crypto access into structured, regulator-aligned services—potentially influencing product availability, custody and brokerage mechanics, and compliance expectations.
For investors and industry observers, the approvals also provide signals about how Dubai’s regime is shaping market entry. VARA’s tiered approach—licensing for some firms and in-principle approval for others—creates a pipeline of operators that can eventually compete on service quality while meeting progressively stricter requirements.
Revolut’s expansion comes alongside Europe’s stablecoin tightening
Revolut’s UAE progress is occurring as the firm navigates crypto compliance changes closer to home. Last week, Cointelegraph reported that Revolut planned to delist Tether’s USDT stablecoin starting in August for the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.
That decision, a Revolut spokesperson told Cointelegraph, followed a review of the company’s crypto services and risk considerations under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. The EU rule set requires companies offering digital asset services to be licensed by July 1, and Revolut said the stablecoin review was carried out in the context of meeting those obligations.
In other words, Revolut’s story is not just about adding new markets—it is also about reshaping product support based on jurisdiction-specific regulation. As the company scales to the UAE, its European platform adjustments underscore how compliance frameworks are pushing firms to rethink which assets they can reliably support under local rules.
Readers should watch VARA’s next steps for Revolut: in-principle approval typically precedes more detailed requirements before full operational capabilities begin. It will also be important to see how Revolut’s UAE product rollout interacts with its ongoing European restructuring, particularly as MiCA licensing timelines continue to affect the broader stablecoin and digital asset landscape.
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