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Regulation & Policy · 1 min read

Caladan Secures In-Principle Broker-Dealer Approval from Dubai's VARA

The digital asset market maker's Dubai entity received preliminary clearance to offer broker-dealer services strictly to institutional clients.

Editorial oversight: Julian Mercer, Chief Editor
Neutral

At a glance Announced

What happened
Caladan's Dubai entity, CLDN Broker Dealer FZE, obtained In-Principle Approval for Broker-Dealer Services from VARA on Sept. 15.
Why it matters
The clearance advances Caladan toward legally providing regulated aggregated liquidity and broker-dealer execution to institutional counterparties in Dubai.
Who is affected
Institutional crypto counterparties, Caladan, and the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.
Takes effect
2026-09-15
What's next
VARA review of operational and compliance requirements ahead of issuing an ultimate full license.
Primary source
PR Newswire: Caladan Receives In-Principle Approval from VARA

Key points

  • CLDN Broker Dealer FZE received In-Principle Approval for Broker-Dealer Services from Dubai's VARA on Sept. 15 1.
  • The in-principle status is not a license; the entity cannot operate until VARA grants full licensing authorization 1.
  • Upon final licensing, the broker-dealer entity will serve institutional counterparties only and exclude retail users 1.

Digital asset market maker Caladan announced that its Dubai entity, CLDN Broker Dealer FZE, received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for Broker-Dealer Services on Sept. 15 1. The preliminary clearance, granted under reference IPA/26/09/004, marks an interim step under Dubai's virtual assets regulatory regime 1.

Under the terms outlined by the regulator, the in-principle approval does not constitute a full operating license 1. CLDN Broker Dealer FZE remains prohibited from conducting broker-dealer activities in or from Dubai until VARA grants final licensing authorization 1. Once fully licensed, the entity plans to cater exclusively to institutional clients, completely excluding retail counterparties 1. Caladan noted that the approval does not serve as an official endorsement of the company or any underlying digital assets by VARA 1.

Institutional Liquidity Expansion

The move aligns with Caladan's strategy to establish regulated footprints across key financial hubs where institutional counterparties seek capital allocation 1. Julia Zhou, president and co-founder of Caladan, stated that the firm engaged with VARA across compliance, risk management, and governance standards to secure the preliminary authorization 1. The broader Caladan group handles principal trading and pools liquidity across more than 40 exchanges and numerous bilateral counterparties, generating $170 billion in annual trading volume 1. The firm distributes tailored liquidity via its proprietary API using FIX 4.4 and 5.0SP2 protocols with sub-10-millisecond latency 1.

At the time of writing, broader digital asset markets are consolidating, with $BTC trading around $85,567 and $ETH at $2,706. Caladan's regulatory filing in Dubai addresses increasing demand from institutional participants that require regulated venues before deploying balance-sheet capital into fragmented liquidity pools 1. To begin commercial operations in the Emirate, CLDN Broker Dealer FZE must now fulfill VARA's remaining operational prerequisites to secure its full virtual asset service provider license 1.

Questions this story raises

Can Caladan now operate as a broker-dealer in Dubai?
No. An In-Principle Approval is not a full operating license. CLDN Broker Dealer FZE cannot conduct broker-dealer activities in or from Dubai until VARA issues a final license.
Will retail traders be able to use Caladan's Dubai entity?
No. Once fully licensed, CLDN Broker Dealer FZE will exclusively cater to institutional clients and will not onboard retail customers.

Sources

  1. [1] Caladan Receives In-Principle Approval from VARA — PR Newswire, October 6, 2026

Written by Basis Desk's newsroom system from the primary sources above and machine-verified against them before publication. Market figures marked "at the time of writing" come from live exchange data. Report an error: corrections@basisdesk.news · corrections policy.

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