Capital.com's UAE clients will get access to crypto services through a separately regulated affiliate company, while its CFD business remains within the broker’s existing regulatory structure.
Capital Vault UAE will provide execution, settlement and custody after securing a full federal virtual-asset licence issued by the Capital Market Authority (CMA).
The licence authorises Capital Vault UAE to deal in virtual assets as an agent or matching principal and to provide custody on behalf of clients. These permissions allow it to execute spot transactions and hold the purchased assets.
Once the service launches, UAE clients will be able to buy virtual assets outright through the Capital.com app. The assets will be held under the client-asset rules applicable to a CMA-licensed custodian. Capital.com has not disclosed a launch date.
One App, Two Regulatory Perimeters
Although clients will access both products through the same app, the legal and operational perimeter changes with the product.
CFD activity remains within Capital.com’s established brokerage business, while spot virtual-asset execution, custody and settlement will go through Capital Vault that operates specifically as a virtual-asset company.
Its governance, custody and risk arrangements are held separately from those of Capital.com’s other regulated businesses.
“The UAE is at the forefront of virtual-asset regulation in the region, and the Capital Market Authority’s review process for virtual-asset licensing reflects that rigour,” Rahul Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Capital Vault UAE, said.
The company has opened an Abu Dhabi office and is building a local virtual-assets team.
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Capital Vault Extends EU Model to UAE
The UAE structure follows the group’s approach in Europe. Cyprus-based Capital Vault Ltd received MiCA authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider in December 2025, while the UAE affiliate now holds CMA permissions for dealing and custody.
Capital Vault is among the first companies licensed under the CMA’s new virtual-asset framework, although it is not the UAE’s only authorised virtual-asset provider.
A Finance Magnates review of publicly available CMA licensing disclosures found Bybit, Daman Virtual Asset Brokerage, XBase and CoinCorner among the other holders of a full CMA licence.
Capital.com has not disclosed the supported tokens, launch date, pricing, liquidity providers, key-storage model, custody insurance, external deposits or withdrawals, staking, conversions or user-to-user transfers.
It therefore remains unclear whether the service will offer a full crypto-exchange experience or a more restricted broker-led buy-and-hold model.
