Payward, the company that owns the crypto exchange Kraken, has received full market approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The approval covers Payward FZCO, its local entity, and allows it to offer crypto services in the UAE. Cointelegraph reported the news on Oct 12, 2026.
This is the second step. Payward received preliminary approval from VARA in May, and the full approval completes that process. Cointelegraph's headline describes it as the last hurdle before a rollout of dirham trading.
The report does not say when dirham trading will start or which trading pairs it will include. It also does not list any fees, product limits or other conditions attached to the approval. Those details are not known yet.
If you already hold a perpetual position on Bitget, Bybit, MEXC or OKX, this news does not directly affect you. The story is about one Kraken entity getting a licence in Dubai, and none of those four exchanges is mentioned. It says nothing about funding rates, trading fees or liquidity on them, so there is nothing new to measure on this site.
Source: cointelegraph — Kraken parent clears Dubai’s final hurdle for dirham trading rollout