Flowdesk has secured a full broker-dealer license from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for its local entity Flowdesk Omega FZE. According to reports from Business Wire, the authorization permits the company to conduct regulated broker-dealer activities for qualified and institutional investors located in Dubai or accessing its services from the emirate. The license was issued on August 10, 2026, coming roughly two months after the subsidiary received in-principle approval in June 2026. As reported by Business Wire, securing a license under Dubai's VARA, widely recognized as one of the most sophisticated and transparent frameworks in the world for virtual assets, underscores the importance of licensing in one of the world's leading crypto hubs. VARA's public register lists the license as active and authorized, covering broker-dealer services in and from Dubai. The regulator defines eight distinct virtual-asset activities, requires a multi-stage approval process, forbids licensed firms from proprietary trading under the same license, and mandates that custody services be held in a separate legal entity. Meanwhile, ARP Digital, an institutional digital asset infrastructure provider, has also secured a broker-dealer license from Dubai's VARA, allowing the Bahrain-based firm to offer regulated conversions between digital assets and the UAE dirham. According to ARP Digital, the license covers United Arab Emirates-based corporates, capital markets participants and qualified investors, including conversions between stablecoins and dirhams.
As reported by Business Wire, Flowdesk describes itself as a full-service digital asset trading and technology firm specializing in liquidity solutions and OTC trading for institutional clients and digital asset issuers. The company's services include trading infrastructure and liquidity management across centralized and decentralized crypto markets, offering 24/7/365 coverage across more than 150 exchange venues globally. According to VARA's public licensing register, the regulator lists companies that hold full virtual asset licenses as well as applicants that have received in-principle approval, with entries identifying specific activities each company is permitted to conduct. The broker-dealer services cover executing trades, arranging transactions, and sourcing liquidity within the boundaries of the license, subject to VARA's rulebooks and investor classifications. The Dubai authorization provides Flowdesk with a regulated intermediary structure that can make its liquidity services easier for institutions to use as crypto trading moves closer to traditional financial market infrastructure. As reported by Business Wire, the company is backed by institutions including BlackRock, Cathay Innovation, and Coinbase Ventures, with over 200 employees globally and an office in Dubai. ARP Digital offers institutional services including over-the-counter liquidity, cross-border settlement, fiat on- and off-ramps and wealth management, with the company saying it will also provide institutions with a regulated route to convert digital asset capital for deployment into local UAE assets. The firm is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, where it has processed more than $3.5 billion in volume for over 450 institutional and corporate counterparties, with fourfold year-over-year growth in 2025.
According to Business Wire, Dubai has placed particular controls around products offered to professional market participants, with VARA introducing a crypto derivatives framework in March covering client suitability, leverage, margin, asset segregation, disclosures, and risk management. Under this framework, VARA can intervene during market stress or suspected misconduct by suspending products, raising margin requirements, ordering liquidations, or requiring stronger controls. The derivatives provisions apply to licensed providers offering exchange services and do not automatically expand the permissions granted under Flowdesk's broker-dealer authorization. Other crypto companies have also sought Dubai access, with Kraken receiving preliminary VARA approval in May and BitGo obtaining a Dubai broker-dealer license in October 2025. VARA currently lists more than 50 fully licensed virtual asset service providers covering exchanges, custody, lending, investment management and broker-dealer activities, demonstrating the emirate's growing virtual asset ecosystem. Dubai now houses over half of the licensed virtual asset service providers in the UAE, highlighting its position as a leading crypto regulatory hub. The approval comes as Dubai continues to expand its regulated digital asset sector, with VARA issuing its 50th virtual asset service provider license in July, as reported by TradingView News.
As reported by Business Wire, the Dubai license follows a separate authorization for Flowdesk Europe under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation. France's Autorité des Marchés Financiers granted Flowdesk Europe Crypto-Asset Service Provider authorization on June 29, 2026, effective from June 30, allowing the French entity to provide regulated crypto services across eligible EU markets through MiCA's passporting system. The company operates under registration number A2026-022. Additionally, Flowdesk has received financial backing from investors, including Coinbase Ventures, with funds managed by BlackRock providing debt financing as part of a $102 million financing package completed in 2025. According to TradingView News, earlier this month, crypto market maker Wintermute launched a US broker-dealer, allowing it to trade stocks and options, while digital asset infrastructure provider BitGo and securities marketplace operator OTC Markets announced plans to provide digital asset trading and custody infrastructure for more than 150 broker-dealers using OTS Link ATS. The funding was intended partly to support international expansion and the development of Flowdesk's institutional trading infrastructure, including OTC derivatives and credit businesses.
According to Business Wire, Guilhem Chaumont, Co-founder and CEO of Flowdesk Group, stated that receiving their full license from VARA is a defining milestone for Flowdesk, and a reflection of the depth of work their teams have invested in governance, compliance, risk management, and institutional-grade market infrastructure. The company emphasized that this license allows them to bring the same rigor to serving institutional and qualified clients in the region. For U.S. readers, Flowdesk's VARA approval does not authorize the company to operate as an American securities broker-dealer or offer regulated brokerage services to U.S. customers, as broker-dealers conducting securities business in the United States generally register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and become members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The Dubai authorization follows another major regulatory approval in Europe, with Flowdesk Europe receiving authorization from France's Financial Markets Authority in June as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider under MiCA regulation. Combined with Dubai, Flowdesk now has regulated operations spanning two regions competing for institutional digital asset activity, reflecting a wider change in crypto market making where firms increasingly build regulated entities capable of serving professional investors. As reported by Business Wire, the dual-regulated infrastructure layer is strengthening Flowdesk's foundations as a partner for institutions, exchanges, and token issuers, with the company looking forward to continued partnership with VARA as the market matures.
