Capital.com affiliate secures UAE licence for spot crypto services

Capital.com's UAE affiliate has secured a licence to offer spot cryptocurrency services, marking the broker's first move into direct asset custody for clients in the Emirates. The approval lets UAE residents buy and hold digital assets through the Capital.com application, expanding a product suite that previously provided only price exposure via contracts for difference. The licence was granted by the UAE's Securities and Commodities Authority, the federal regulator overseeing digital-asset activities since the 2023 framework took effect. Capital.com's local entity joins a growing roster of international firms, including eToro and Crypto.com, that have secured VarA or SCA permissions to operate regulated spot venues in the region. UAE clients will access the new spot offering through the existing Capital.com mobile and desktop apps. The rollout begins with major tokens such as bitcoin and ether, with additional assets added as the affiliate completes token-by-token compliance reviews. Custody will be handled through a regulated third-party provider rather than self-custodied by the broker, a model the SCA requires for retail-facing platforms. The move reflects a broader shift among CFD brokers toward hybrid models that combine leveraged derivatives with spot execution. European peers including IG Group and Saxo Bank have introduced similar dual-product lines over the past eighteen months, responding to client demand for outright ownership alongside margin products. Capital.com's UAE entry follows its 2023 acquisition of a local introducing broker, which provided the corporate structure needed for the licence application. Total crypto market capitalization sits at $2.52 trillion with 24-hour volume of $139 billion, per CoinGecko data. Bitcoin dominance holds at 59 percent while Ethereum accounts for 11.2 percent of aggregate value. The market has added 3.2 percent in the past day, a backdrop of improving risk appetite that coincides with the UAE regulatory milestone. | ETH Dominance | 11.2% |, | The UAE's digital-asset framework, finalised in early 2023, requires platforms to maintain minimum capital of $2 million, segregate client assets, and submit quarterly audits to the SCA. Licence holders must also implement transaction monitoring aligned with FATF travel-rule standards. Capital.com's affiliate satisfied these conditions during a six-month review period that included on-site inspections of its Dubai operational hub. Regional competitors are watching the rollout closely. VarA, Dubai's dedicated virtual-asset regulator, has licensed over twenty exchanges since its 2022 launch, while Abu Dhabi's ADGM framework hosts another fifteen. The federal SCA licence held by Capital.com's affiliate permits operations across all seven emirates, a distinction from the zone-specific permissions granted by VarA and ADGM. Capital.com has not disclosed a launch date for the spot product, stating only that "technical integration and compliance finalisation" remain underway. The broker's global chief executive previously indicated a target of the fourth quarter for full spot functionality in the UAE, though that guidance predates the final licence award. The approval adds another regulated on-ramp in a jurisdiction that has positioned itself as a bridge between Western capital and Asian liquidity pools. For traders, the practical implication is access to spot markets with local banking connectivity, dirham deposits and withdrawals, without routing through offshore entities. That connectivity reduces settlement risk and aligns with the UAE's broader ambition to capture a larger share of global digital-asset flows.