Dubai’s financial regulator, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, has released clear instructions on how companies creating and offering digital tokens should conduct their business.
Summary
- VARA has published detailed guidance clarifying how virtual assets should be structured, disclosed, and distributed in Dubai.
- The framework defines three issuance categories and assigns clear responsibilities to issuers and licensed intermediaries.
- Stablecoins and asset-referenced tokens now face specific requirements on reserves, disclosures, and investor protections.
Instead of creating new laws, this document explains how to apply existing rules for virtual assets, providing more specific guidance on handling different kinds of tokens.
This update reflects the regulator’s ongoing work to develop specific rules for digital assets, setting it apart from other countries that use existing laws for stocks or payments to oversee new token offerings.
Classifications based on risks
The guidance centers around a three-way system for categorizing how tokens are issued, based on how they’re built and the level of risk they pose.
Virtual assets are divided into three groups. The first includes stablecoins and tokens backed by real-world assets. The second group refers to assets that must be distributed by companies licensed by VARA. Finally, a third group consists of simpler virtual assets with limited features, which have fewer regulatory requirements.
Each approach outlines specific duties. For Category 2 releases, licensed distributors must investigate and continuously monitor compliance, meaning responsibility extends beyond those creating the tokens to also include those distributing them. This system avoids treating all digital assets the same way, and instead focuses regulation on how each asset actually operates in the market.
This plan outlines requirements for stablecoins and similar digital assets, detailing how they should hold reserves, allow users to redeem their value, and be legally established.
Ruben Bombardi, the legal head of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, explained to crypto news outlets that the new regulations provide “more clarity” because many digital assets don’t easily fit into existing legal definitions.
Bombardi explained that the system aims to help users make better decisions by clearly showing them the risks and details of what they’re considering.
This update follows several recent steps taken by the regulator to modernize its rules and keep pace with how the market is evolving. Just earlier this month, VARA broadened its regulations for exchanges to include cryptocurrency derivatives.
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2026-04-09 13:06