Proxima Eight FZE LLC
Business Centre, Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Business Centre, Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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Regulated Virtual Asset Custody in Dubai: VARA Custody Services Licence
The Custody licence is technically demanding — and commercially valuable. A licensed custodian in Dubai can serve other VARA-licensed firms, institutional clients, and family offices across the region.
9+ Years of Compliance Expertise
End-to-End Execution
Is This You?
- You provide or plan to provide wallet custody services for institutional or retail clients
- You want to offer custody-as-a-service to other VARA-licensed firms in Dubai
- You're building a custody infrastructure product and need a regulated entity in Dubai
- You're a family office or fund that wants in-house custody capability
- You're an exchange or broker that currently holds client assets and needs to formalise this
The Commercial Case for a Custody Licence
Beyond regulatory compliance, a VARA Custody licence opens commercial opportunities that don't exist without it:
In a market where most firms are still building their licensing structure, being an early licensed custodian in Dubai creates significant first-mover advantage.
- Other VARA-licensed firms (Exchanges, Broker-Dealers, Management firms) that use a third-party custodian to reduce their own capital requirements — your licence enables their lower capital tier
- Institutional clients that require a regulated custodian as a condition of doing business
- Family offices and HNW clients in the region seeking regulated custody for their VA holdings
In a market where most firms are still building their licensing structure, being an early licensed custodian in Dubai creates significant first-mover advantage.
Key Requirements
Capital: higher of AED 600,000 or 25% of fixed annual overheads
2 Responsible Individuals - UAE residents, full-time, VARA-approved
Private office in Dubai required
Mandatory third-party technology audit before licence issuance
Full asset segregation - client assets completely separated from firm assets at all times
Periodic reserve attestation - confirm client assets held 1:1
What We Do for You
- Custody model designCold/hot wallet structure, key management framework, multi-signature setup, third-party technology provider selection.
- Technology audit preparationPrepare your wallet infrastructure for VARA's mandatory third-party audit. We identify gaps before the auditor does.
- Asset segregation frameworkPolicy and operational procedures for full client asset segregation per VARA's Custody Rulebook.
- Reserve attestation structureFramework for periodic proof-of-reserves with an approved auditor.
- AML/KYC programmeFull AML framework, transaction monitoring, wallet screening, goAML registration.
- End-to-end VASP applicationATI and full application managed end-to-end.
Frequently Asked Questions
VARA's Technology and Information Rulebook sets specific requirements for the proportion of assets in cold (offline) storage vs hot wallets. We map these requirements against your infrastructure as part of pre-application preparation.
Yes, but with additional due diligence requirements for the counterparty. We design your onboarding procedures for different client categories.
Staking on behalf of clients may require additional VARA authorisation depending on how it's structured. If you act as counterparty, Lending & Borrowing may apply. We assess the specific product structure.
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Please note: We do not provide any personalized investment advice, token selection guidance, or transaction recommendations. AMLzone is a compliance consultancy and project management services provider, not a Virtual Asset Advisor.
Please note: We do not provide any personalized investment advice, token selection guidance, or transaction recommendations. AMLzone is a compliance consultancy and project management services provider, not a Virtual Asset Advisor.