Capital.com Ring-Fences UAE Crypto Business Under New Licence

Capital.com is separating its UAE crypto offering from its CFD brokerage by routing spot virtual-asset services through a newly licensed affiliate, Capital Vault UAE. The move follows the affiliate's receipt of a full federal virtual-asset licence from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the UAE's securities and commodities regulator.

Under the CMA licence, Capital Vault UAE is authorised to deal in virtual assets as an agent or matching principal and to provide custody on behalf of clients. That allows it to execute spot purchases and hold the assets for clients. Once the service goes live, UAE clients will be able to buy virtual assets outright through the Capital.com app, with assets held under the client-asset rules applicable to a CMA-licensed custodian. Capital.com has not disclosed a launch date.

Although both CFD and crypto products will be accessible from the same app, each now operates under a distinct regulatory perimeter. CFD activity remains within Capital.com's established brokerage business, while spot virtual-asset execution, custody and settlement run through Capital Vault UAE as a standalone virtual-asset company. Its governance, custody and risk arrangements are maintained separately from Capital.com's other regulated entities.

"The UAE is at the forefront of virtual-asset regulation in the region, and the Capital Market Authority's review process for virtual-asset licensing reflects that rigour," said Rahul Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Capital Vault UAE. The company has opened an Abu Dhabi office and is building a local virtual-assets team.

The UAE structure mirrors the approach Capital.com's group has taken in Europe. Cyprus-based Capital Vault Ltd received MiCA authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider in December 2025, and the UAE affiliate has now added CMA permissions for dealing and custody. Capital Vault is among the first companies licensed under the CMA's newer virtual-asset framework, though not the only one: other full licence holders identified through public CMA disclosures include Bybit, Daman Virtual Asset Brokerage, XBase and CoinCorner.

Capital.com has yet to disclose supported tokens, pricing, liquidity providers, key-storage arrangements, custody insurance, external deposits or withdrawals, staking, conversions or user-to-user transfers. As a result, it remains unclear whether UAE clients will get a full crypto-exchange experience or a more tightly controlled, broker-led buy-and-hold model.