Capital.com Plans UAE Spot Crypto Services After Affiliate Capital Vault Secures Virtual-Asset License
Key Takeaways
- •Capital Vault secured a virtual-asset license from the UAE Capital Market Authority, the federal regulator of the country’s onshore securities markets.
- •The license permits Capital Vault to handle virtual assets as an agent or matching principal and to provide custody services for clients.
- •Capital.com plans to add spot crypto trading in the UAE, allowing clients to buy and hold real cryptocurrencies through its app.
- •Capital Vault is being operated as a separate regulated entity, with its governance, custody and risk arrangements kept apart from Capital.com’s other businesses.
- •The approval comes after the CMA expanded its virtual-asset framework in April and added a federal layer to the UAE’s existing crypto regulatory system.
Capital.com, a trading platform and contracts for difference (CFD) broker, plans to offer spot crypto services to clients in the United Arab Emirates after its affiliate, Capital Vault, secured a virtual-asset license from the country's Capital Market Authority (CMA), the federal regulator of the UAE's onshore securities markets.
According to an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, the license allows Capital Vault to deal in virtual assets as an agent or matching principal and to provide custody on behalf of clients.
Once the service goes live, UAE clients will be able to buy and hold actual cryptocurrencies through the Capital.com app, with Capital Vault providing execution, custody and settlement. The offering expands Capital.com's services beyond its CFDs, which give clients price exposure without ownership of the underlying crypto. Several retail brokers, including eToro and Robinhood, already offer spot crypto alongside traditional instruments, a route Capital.com is now extending into the UAE market.
Capital Vault operates as a separate regulated entity, with its governance, custody and risk arrangements kept separate from Capital.com's other businesses. Ring-fencing licensed crypto activities from a group's wider operations is a structure commonly used in regulated markets to keep client asset and risk arrangements distinct from other business lines. The affiliate has opened an office in Abu Dhabi and is building a local virtual-asset team.
The approval follows the CMA's introduction of a virtual-asset regulatory framework in April, which expanded the number of regulated activities from three to eight. The framework also established requirements covering business conduct, alternative trading systems, anti-money laundering controls and prudential standards. The CMA regime adds a federal layer to the UAE's multi-regulator approach to crypto, which already includes Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), created under a 2022 Dubai law, and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), which has regulated virtual assets since 2018. Global exchanges including Binance, Bybit and Crypto.com have obtained UAE licenses or established regional operations in the country.
The announcement did not state when the spot service would go live or which cryptocurrencies would initially be available.
Source: Cointelegraph
