Dubai’s VARA Has Struck Correct Balance in Licensing Time Frame, Says Senior Official

Dubai — Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority believes it has struck the correct balance in terms of time taken to award licenses to crypto-related applicants, its senior official Sean McHugh told CoinDesk in an interview on Tuesday, disputing any perception of being a friendlier-than-usual crypto regulator.

Dubai, as the most populated of the seven emirates in the UAE, is among those smaller Asian jurisdictions fighting for the title of “the global crypto hub,” along with Singapore and Hong Kong. VARA’s role in that branding has been critical, along with other regulators in the country, including the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

“It’s like the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” said McHugh, the Senior Director of Market Assurance at VARA. “Applicants to any process often think it’s moving slower than it should. Others on the outside might think we are moving too fast. They aren’t necessarily our target audience. We believe we have struck the right balance, not too hot, not too cold.”

The fairy tale’s message is often termed the Goldilocks principle and represents the idea of “just the right amount.”

In the past year, VARA has awarded full regulatory approvals to major global crypto exchanges such as OKX, Crypto.com and Binance.

VARA does not state an average timeframe within which crypto-related entities may get the required license. However, representatives from at least two major exchanges told CoinDesk that these licenses involved months of back and forth for regulatory fine-tuning.

Earlier this month, VARA updated the rules around marketing of virtual assets and then fined seven “entities” for operating without the required licenses.

“Our focus is on responsible licensing, supervision, compliance around anti-money laundering and terrorism financing and customer protection,” McHugh said.

McHugh, who was speaking to CoinDesk on the sidelines of the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai, also said more major traditional financial institutions are going to show up soon at such events.

“The interest in the ecosystem suggests that in two or three years time there will be more people in suits at such events, executives from the likes of BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, resulting in the institutionalization of the space,” he said. McHugh has previously held roles at Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Fidelity Investments and Citadel.