ARP Digital secures Dubai VARA broker-dealer license

ARP Digital, an institutional digital asset infrastructure provider, has secured a broker-dealer license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, allowing the Bahrain-based firm to offer regulated conversions between digital assets and the UAE dirham.

According to ARP Digital, the license covers United Arab Emirates-based corporates, capital markets participants and qualified investors, including conversions between stablecoins and dirhams. The company said it will also provide institutions with a regulated route to convert digital asset capital for deployment into local UAE assets.

The approval marks ARP Digital’s second regulated Gulf market. The firm is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, where it says it has processed more than $3.5 billion in volume for over 450 institutional and corporate counterparties, with fourfold year-over-year growth in 2025.

ARP Digital offers institutional services including over-the-counter liquidity, cross-border settlement, fiat on- and off-ramps and wealth management.

The approval comes as Dubai continues to expand its regulated digital asset sector. In July, VARA issued its 50th virtual asset service provider license. The regulator, established in 2022, oversees the provision, use and exchange of virtual assets in and from Dubai.

Flowdesk, a crypto market maker backed by Coinbase Ventures and BlackRock, also received a full VARA broker-dealer license on Tuesday, allowing it to serve qualified and institutional investors in and from the emirate.

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