Digital Asset Exchange License UAE

ISIC classification: Other financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding activities, n.e.c. (6499)

Typically requires Designated Zone status for VAT purposes

About this activity

Runs a regulated trading venue for tokenised securities and other digital assets, matching buyer and seller orders under exchange rules.

Regulatory requirements

Requires external approval — Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) (Dubai) / Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA) (other Emirates) & Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE)

100% foreign ownershipYes

Facility requirementLicensed VARA/SCA-Compliant Office with Cybersecurity & Risk Controls

Market Analysis

Another entry in this dataset's eleven-code Exchange Services cluster (alongside Cryptocurrency Exchange, VA Exchange Services, Virtual Asset Exchange, and others) — same VARA category, same AED 100,000 application / AED 200,000 annual supervision / AED 800,000-1,500,000 capital structure.

"Digital Asset" versus "Cryptocurrency" versus "Virtual Asset" in these activity names reflects historical DED naming drift rather than a regulatory distinction — VARA's own terminology is "Virtual Assets," and all three phrasings describe the same underlying instruments for licensing purposes.

Dubai is the only base that makes sense given VARA's jurisdiction sits there specifically; Sharjah and Ajman's cheaper general license fees don't apply to VARA-regulated activities the way they do to unregulated trading or services activities elsewhere in this dataset.

100% foreign ownership applies. The practical advice for anyone landing on this specific activity code: confirm with VARA (or a VARA-focused legal advisor) which of the eleven near-duplicate exchange-related codes in this dataset is actually the one your DED application should reference, since they aren't meaningfully different in cost or process.

Available in: . A detailed per-emirate fee breakdown isn't published for this activity yet — check back soon, or get a scored recommendation for your specific business below.

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