As a subsidiary of FTX Europe, FTX Exchange FZE (FTX) announced that it has received full regulatory approval to enter Dubai’s ‘Minimum Viable Product’ (MVP) programme for Virtual Assets under the oversight of the region’s crypto regulator — Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). Following this, the crypto exchange became the first Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) to receive this MVP licence to operate its Virtual Asset (VA) Exchange and Clearing House services in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) noted that with this approval, FTX aims “to lead the way in growing the digital asset industry in countries and jurisdictions that possess a robust digital asset framework.”
He added, “with VARA’s letter of approval, FTX FZE Exchange will operate under a model which has rigorous regulatory oversight and mandatory FATF compliance controls that are in line with the requirements of Tier 1 international financial markets”.
FTX Becomes First Crypto Exchange With MVP Status
Earlier this year, FTX began the transition process to become an operational MVP licence. After acquiring the status of the first fully regulated crypto exchange to receive a provisional licence for preparing to appear for “complex crypto derivatives dedicated to professional institutional investors in the UAE”, FTX finally received the MVP status.
Now, the platform is eligible to facilitate regulated crypto derivatives products and trading services to Qualified Institutional Investors across the region. Furthermore, the VARA MVP Licence also grants FTX permission to act as a “Clearing House, operate an NFT Marketplace, and provide Custodial Services under tightly prescribed parameters for a specific class of consumers – assuring strong guardrails for market protection and economic security”.
H.E. Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai World Trade Centre Authority that houses VARA said that VARA’s operating model is based on a “unique test-scale-adapt principle designed for secure and sustainable growth, is reflective of Dubai’s commitment to creating a globally interoperable model for the ‘future economy’”.
He added that “the MVP Phase, exclusive to select, responsible international players like FTX, will allow VARA to prudently structure guidelines and risk mitigation levers for secure commercial operations. We look forward to FTX’s active participation in this next stage of collaborative global VA innovation”.