ARP Digital has won a broker-dealer license from Dubai’s VARA (Dubai virtual assets regulator), giving the Bahrain-based institutional digital asset infrastructure provider approval to offer regulated conversions between digital assets and the UAE dirham. The license covers United Arab Emirates-based corporates, capital markets participants and qualified investors, including stablecoin-to-dirham conversions, and creates a regulated route for institutions to move digital asset capital into local UAE assets. The approval extends ARP Digital’s Gulf footprint beyond Bahrain, where it is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain and says 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. The move comes as Dubai continues to broaden its supervised crypto market, with VARA issuing its 50th virtual asset service provider license in July and Flowdesk also receiving a full broker-dealer license on Tuesday.