key takeaways:
- Komainu, a crypto custodian, receives Dubai VARA’s approval to provide custody services to clients via Komainu Connect Platform in the city.
- This endorsement establishes Komainu as a regional pioneer in obtaining a full Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license.
Dubai‘s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) has granted a full license to crypto custodian Komainu, enabling it to offer custody services through its Komainu Connect Platform within Dubai.
Komainu’s achievement of a complete Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license in the region follows a three-step process involving provisional approval, a minimal viable product (MVP) license, and a full market product license.
Komainu successfully concluded the final step in VARA’s licensing procedure around 10 months after securing its MVP license in November 2022. Noteworthy crypto exchanges like Binance, Bybit, Laser Digital Middle East, BitOasis, OKX, Crypto.com, FTX , and Huobi have also gained similar operational status previously.
Sebastian Widmann, Komainu’s Head of Strategy, expressed the company’s enthusiasm for expanding its business in Dubai, citing the growing assets and flourishing digital asset ecosystem in the region.
He emphasized the company’s commitment to contribute to the innovation of Dubai’s financial landscape. Switzerland’s Laser Digital, which manages Nomura’s digital asset investments, also obtained its VARA license earlier this month.
The granted license enables Komainu to provide institutional staking, collateral management, and asset custody to clients in Dubai. VARA’s regulatory approach aims to provide clarity, certainty, and risk mitigation in the market.
Their framework supports global economic sustainability and innovation, aligning with Komainu’s mission to address market gaps by delivering secure and compliant custody services for institutions entering the digital asset investment space.
Since its establishment in 2018, Komainu has been instrumental in safeguarding assets for various entities, including exchanges, financial institutions, asset managers, corporations, and government agencies. Built on a joint venture involving influential entities, Komainu offers multi-asset support while adhering rigorously to regulatory standards.
VARA employs a systematic four-step licensing process. This approach encompasses acquiring a provisional permit, obtaining preparatory and operational licenses for their minimal viable product (MVP), and ultimately gaining endorsement for a full market product (FMP) license.
Reaching this concluding stage of VARA’s licensing progression empowers the company to provide institutional staking and collateral management services in the region via its Komainu Connect platform.
