Local officials are imposing more marketing and advertising regulations for the industry as Dubai moves forward with a new licence scheme for cryptocurrency service providers.
The city’s specialised cryptocurrency regulator, Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), purportedly unveiled new rules on Aug. 25 regarding the marketing, promotion, and advertising of virtual assets.
According to the local news source Gulf News, the VARA made reference to all forms of outreach, communications, and advertising, information dissemination, awareness-raising, customer engagement, investment solicitation, and others.
The rules apply to all virtual asset-related communications and organisations that post material on media websites, search engines, and offline and online distribution channels that cater to consumers in the Dubai market.
These regulations specifically address marketing and communications activities, ahead of operationalizing the MVP licensees so that any mass-market information dissemination, and consumer solicitation are designed to safeguard community interests.
Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority
In order to avoid misleading potential clients, the rules allegedly also call for all local virtual asset service providers (VASP), including advertising platforms, to guarantee factual accuracy and clearly state any promotional aim.
One of the first businesses to be granted an MVP licence by VARA was Sam Bankman-FTX Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange through its regional company FZE in July 2022. The licence allowed FZE to fully run a VASP in the area.
The VARA guidelines were released concurrently with Abu Dhabi’s new ambitions to introduce a blockchain and virtual asset strategy that is consistent with the nation’s broader economic strategy. The Abu Dhabi Blockchain and Virtual Assets Committee convened its inaugural meeting to talk about the plan on August 25.
