Crypto Currents: Kraken lands Dubai license ahead of paused IPO

Kraken’s parent company Payward secured a landmark broker-dealer licence from Dubai’s top crypto regulator, clearing the exchange to offer a full suite of trading and institutional services in the Gulf, while keeping its IPO filing with the SEC on ice after pausing its listing plans earlier this year. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with “Crypto Currents,” daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio.

KRAKEN’S UAE CLEARANCE: Payward Inc., the Cheyenne, Wyoming-based parent of the Kraken exchange, received preliminary authorization from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA, for a broker-dealer, investment, and management licence, the company disclosed. The approval enables Kraken to offer spot trading, margin, OTC settlement, staking, and institutional services in Dubai, along with on and off-ramps for local clients.

Payward filed a confidential draft S-1 with the SEC in late 2025, though the company paused its listing plans in March due to market conditions, keeping the filing on file with no confirmed timeline. Dubai’s VARA has become the de facto gold standard for crypto broker-dealer licensing in the Gulf, and the on-ramp capability addresses a long-standing friction point for regional institutional clients. CoinbaseHOOD” style=””> (HOOD) are watching Kraken’s regulated international expansion model closely as an alternative growth path under tight U.S. regulatory scrutiny.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin (BTC-USD) was trading at $77,097.99, while ether (ETH-USD) was trading at $2,128.73, according to price data from TipRanks.