Capital Vault, a regulated affiliate of trading platform Capital.com, has secured a full virtual-asset licence from the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority, now operating under the UAE CMA licence, . The licence clears Capital.com to move beyond the derivatives-only crypto exposure it offers in most markets and into direct spot ownership, custody and settlement for its UAE customer base.
What changes for UAE customers
Capital.com’s existing crypto products in most markets are contracts-for-difference, which track a crypto asset’s price without transferring ownership of the underlying coin. Capital Vault’s licence permits dealing in virtual assets as an agent or matching principal, alongside custody of client assets, a distinct regulatory category from the CFD business. Once the service launches, UAE clients using the Capital.com app will be able to buy and hold actual cryptocurrency, with Capital Vault providing execution, custody and settlement underneath the consumer-facing product.
“The UAE is at the forefront of virtual-asset regulation in the region, and the CMA’s review process reflects that rigour,” said Rahul Kumar, chief executive of Capital Vault UAE.
Tarik Chebib, chief executive for the MENA region at Capital.com, said: “Capital.com clients across the region have been asking for a straightforward, regulated way to buy and hold virtual assets.”
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A licence under a framework that is months old
Capital Vault’s grant sits with the federal regulator rather than Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority or Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority, which . The Securities and Commodities Authority was reconstituted as the Capital Market Authority on 1 January 2026 under Federal Law No. 32 of 2025.
covering eight licensed virtual-asset activities, including dealing as principal or agent and providing custody, the two categories Capital Vault’s licence falls under. Firms dealing in virtual assets need at least AED 4 million in paid-up capital, or 25% of expected annual expenses, whichever is higher, rising to 35% if the firm holds client assets, as Capital Vault does.
Capital Vault is among the first firms licensed under this new framework, which only took effect this year, rather than one of many licensees under an established regime. It operates from an office in Abu Dhabi, with governance, custody and risk arrangements kept separate from Capital.com’s other businesses. Its European arm, Capital Vault Europe, was separately authorised under the EU’s MiCA framework in December 2025.
Capital.com itself is a CFD broker founded in 2016 that says it serves clients across more than 180 countries, regulated at tier-one level by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and Australia’s ASIC, alongside the CMA.
Capital Vault said it expects to expand its regulatory footprint and product range in the UAE, without naming a specific timeline. A licence clears the regulatory path; it is not the same as a live product, and that gap is the detail to track next.
