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| Dimension |
Pinned 🇮🇪 Ireland partly open Verified 2026-07-15
|
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA)
partly open
Verified 2026-08-01
|
|---|---|---|
| Licence type | MiCA CASP authorisation granted by the Central Bank of Ireland; replaces the legacy VASP registration (CJA 2010, AML). No simplified VASP->CASP conversion - all applicants face the full process. | VARA VASP licence under the Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023 - licensed PER ACTIVITY (Advisory, Broker-Dealer, Custody, Exchange, Lending & Borrowing, Management & Investment, Transfer & Settlement, plus VA Issuance). A DET/free-zone commercial licence is also required. |
| Regulator | Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) - sole competent authority; runs an Innovation Hub. Known as a demanding, gatekeeper-style regulator. | VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) - sole authority across the Emirate of Dubai except the DIFC. Parallel UAE regimes exist: ADGM/FSRA (Abu Dhabi), DFSA (DIFC), and federal SCA/Central Bank. |
| Capital requirement | Ireland capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. |
| Timeline to authorisation | Ireland timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. |
| Local substance | Ireland local substance is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) local substance is included in the £349 pass. |
| Application cost | Ireland application cost is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) application cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Ongoing cost | Ireland ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Passporting | Ireland passporting is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) passporting is included in the £349 pass. |
| MiCA CASPs approved | Ireland mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. |
| Key restrictions | Ireland key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. |
| Recent changes | Transitional period ended 30 Dec 2025 (12 months; simplified route declined). ~10 CASPs authorised by late 2025 (Kraken Jun 2025, Coinbase, StoneX 10th). Revised Consumer Protection Code from 24 Mar 2026. | 'Rulebook 2.0' reissued all twelve rulebooks effective 19 Jun 2025 (mandatory Travel Rule, wind-down plans, TLPT, a new VA Issuance rulebook). VARA issued a circular implementing UAE federal anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and proliferation financing requirements for VASPs (4 March 2026), an updated Travel Rule circular (24 February 2026), and an AML/CFT Business Risk Assessment Guidance (12 June 2026). VARA's rulebook site separately hosts a non-binding Guidance on the Virtual Asset Issuance Rulebook, covering two issuance pathways (Category 1: fiat- and asset-referenced tokens needing a VARA licence and reserve assets, except direct-ownership tokens; Category 2: other tokens, distributed only via VARA-licensed distributors or broker-dealers); this document carries no visible date on VARA's own rulebook page, but contemporaneous legal reporting consistently dates its publication to 9 April 2026. VARA has previously stated it penalised around 19 unlicensed firms. Legal-press reporting records VARA's 50th VASP licence (Tribe Tokenisation FZE) in early July 2026. No VARA news items have been published since 12 June 2026 as of 15 July 2026. VARA's own public register listed 52 licensed VASPs as of 1 August 2026, the most recent being Flipster FZE (exchange services, 14 July 2026); the register dates Tribe Tokenisation FZE, earlier reported by legal press as the 50th licensee, to 22 June 2026. No new VARA circular has been published since the 12 June 2026 AML/CFT Business Risk Assessment Guidance. |
| Difficulty rating | Ireland difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. |
Informational only, not legal advice. A delta compares the sortable figure only (capital, timeline, cost, difficulty, passporting, approvals); it is not a judgement on overall suitability. Verify with qualified counsel before acting.
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