Animoca Brands has secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), authorizing the Web3 investment giant to offer broker-dealer and asset management services across the emirate. The licence, announced Monday, clears the way for Animoca to serve institutional and qualified investors in and from Dubai, excluding the separate Dubai International Financial Centre.
The approval marks a significant milestone for one of crypto’s most active investment firms, which manages a portfolio exceeding 600 companies and digital assets and operates platforms like The Sandbox and Moca Network. It also underscores Dubai’s strategy to build regulated infrastructure for digital assets while simultaneously tightening operational rules.
“Animoca has seen growth in its institutional products such as RWAs, so an emphasis on institutional clients out of Dubai is important and strategic to us,” Yat Siu, Animoca’s co-founder and executive chairman, told Decrypt. He characterized the region as “one of the most forward looking and supportive places for crypto broadly.”
The VASP licence arrives just weeks after Dubai’s DFSA (the regulator overseeing the DIFC financial free zone) implemented a sweeping crackdown on privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. The regulator banned licensed exchanges and financial institutions from facilitating privacy tokens like Monero and Zcash, citing anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance concerns.
The updated framework also prohibited regulated firms from using privacy devices such as mixers, tumblers, or obfuscation tools that hide transaction details. Additionally, the DFSA scrapped its approved token whitelist, placing the burden of ongoing asset suitability assessments directly on licensed firms themselves.
Dubai’s regulator also tightened its definition of “fiat crypto tokens,” restricting the category exclusively to tokens pegged to fiat currencies and backed by high-quality, liquid assets capable of meeting redemption demands during periods of market stress. That standard would disqualify a significant portion of stablecoins currently in circulation.
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Industry observers say the stricter rules actually make Dubai more attractive for major players. “Stricter token and AML standards actually make Dubai more attractive for serious global players, because they de-risk the jurisdiction and give institutions the regulatory clarity they need to scale here,” said Nitesh Mishra, co-founder and CTO of hedging platform ChaiDEX Capital.
Mishra noted that privacy token bans and tightened stablecoin requirements signal “clean capital only”—exactly what large funds, banks, and listed companies seek. “I’d rather build in a jurisdiction that just got off the FATF grey list and is doubling down on compliant, scalable infrastructure than chase short-term volume in lightly regulated hubs,” he told Decrypt.
Both VARA and the DFSA are clearly moving in lockstep with global regulatory expectations, prioritizing Financial Action Task Force (FATF) alignment and sanctions enforcement while remaining welcoming to compliant builders and businesses.
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Dubai’s crackdown on privacy tokens fits into a wider, international effort to combat money laundering and terrorist financing through cryptocurrency. Last month, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit updated its AML/CFT guidelines to require regulated virtual digital asset service providers to block deposits, withdrawals, and trading of privacy tokens, along with coin mixers, citing “unacceptably high” money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
The European Union and Hong Kong have moved similarly, with both jurisdictions moving to restrict or effectively ban privacy coins from regulated markets. The coordinated global approach reflects growing consensus among financial regulators that privacy-enhancing cryptocurrencies present elevated compliance risks.
For Animoca, the Dubai licence strengthens its institutional foothold in the Middle East just as the company expands its real-world asset (RWA) offerings. The approval demonstrates that even as regulators worldwide tighten oversight, jurisdictions like Dubai remain committed to building compliant crypto infrastructure that appeals to serious institutional players.
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