NewsNovo
Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has granted its 50th crypto licence, a milestone the emirate is treating as proof that its regulated digital-assets market is maturing.
The more revealing number sits just below it: only 39 of those licensees were fully operational as virtual asset service providers at the end of 2025.
The gap between firms licensed and firms live is the real data point worth watching. What the Headline Obscures Fifty licences issued is the kind of round number that travels well in press releases.
But VARA's own figures show eleven of those approved entities had not yet reached operational status by the close of last year.
Keep reading