Bahrain-headquartered ARP Digital, a digital capital infrastructure platform backed by one of the Gulf’s oldest family conglomerates, has received in-principle approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The move signals a major step in the firm’s strategy to establish a regulated, dual-jurisdiction presence across the GCC and cater to the UAE’s growing pool of digital asset capital.
Quick Facts
- Approval: In-principle nod from Dubai’s VARA.
- Heritage: Co-founded by members of the 135-year-old Kanoo Group.
- Track Record: Processed over $3.5 billion in Bahrain.
Bridging Digital Wealth with UAE’s Financial Markets
The approval positions ARP Digital to address a significant gap in the UAE market, which has become a major hub for digital asset wealth. While individuals and institutions hold substantial digital capital, they have lacked institutionally-governed and compliant channels to convert and deploy these assets into local fiat currencies and financial markets.
“The UAE has accumulated a significant concentration of digital asset wealth over the past three years, held by individuals and institutions that are sophisticated in their understanding of that capital but constrained in their ability to deploy it into local assets,” said Abdulaziz Kanoo, Co-Founder of ARP Digital. “The gap has never been a matter of appetite. It has been a matter of regulated infrastructure.”
A Dual-Jurisdiction Play Built on Bahraini Success
This is not ARP Digital’s first regulatory license. The firm is already licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) as a Category 3 Capital Market Crypto Asset Service Provider. Under its Bahraini license, ARP Digital has built a substantial business, processing over $3.5 billion in volume for more than 450 institutional and corporate clients.
The VARA approval marks the firm’s first formal regulatory expansion into a second GCC country. While ARP Digital must still complete final conditions to receive a full operational licence from VARA, the in-principle approval is a critical milestone in its multi-jurisdictional strategy.
Building Institutional-Grade Infrastructure for the Gulf
ARP Digital’s expansion comes during a period of significant growth, with the company reporting a 4x year-on-year increase in volume in 2025. Co-founders Abdulaziz and Abdulla Kanoo, fifth-generation members of the Kanoo Group, aim to build the foundational infrastructure connecting global digital asset liquidity with the region’s traditional financial systems.
“Regulators across the region, and in UAE particularly, have made a deliberate choice to build digital asset frameworks that meet institutional standards, not to accommodate speculation, but to integrate digital capital into the financial system,” explained Abdulla Kanoo, Co-Founder of ARP Digital. “ARP Digital’s role is to be the infrastructure layer that makes that integration operational.”
About ARP Digital
ARP Digital is a regulated digital capital infrastructure platform based in Bahrain. It provides a suite of institutional services including an OTC liquidity desk, international settlement, on/off-ramp conversion, and wealth management services. The firm is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and has received in-principle approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). It serves institutional investors, exchange houses, global payment companies, and high-net-worth individuals across the GCC and international markets.
Source: Zawya
