🇦🇪 Crypto licence in Abu Dhabi (ADGM)

The regime

Abu Dhabi Global Market's Financial Services Regulatory Authority has licensed virtual-asset activities since June 2018 — one of the oldest comprehensive frameworks anywhere. Firms take a Financial Services Permission (FSP) scoped to activities: operating a multilateral trading facility, custody, broker-dealing, asset management.

ADGM hosts regional headquarters and custody hubs for several global crypto firms, and its common-law framework (English law applies directly) makes it the institutional counterpart to Dubai's VARA regime.

Requirements

• FSP application to the FSRA scoped to regulated activities involving virtual assets (MTF, custody, dealing, advising, managing).
• Capital: base requirements per activity plus expenditure-based buffers; custody and exchange operators carry the heaviest requirements.
• Accepted virtual assets: only assets meeting FSRA criteria (market cap, liquidity, security history) may be used in regulated activities.
• Substance: ADGM incorporation, resident senior executive officers, compliance and MLRO functions in the free zone.

Licensed firms

FSRA-licensed virtual-asset firms include:

• Hex Trust — custody FSP
• MidChains — exchange and custody, Mubadala-backed
• M2 — exchange licensed in ADGM, 2023

Snapshot, not the register: verify current status against ADGM public registers before relying on it.

What is the difference between ADGM and VARA licensing?

ADGM's FSRA regulates within the Abu Dhabi financial free zone under English common law and a bank-style permission model; VARA covers Dubai (ex-DIFC) with activity rulebooks. They are separate licences for separate territories.

Can an ADGM firm serve retail clients?

Yes, where the FSP scope allows it, though many ADGM virtual-asset licences are institutionally focused; retail exposure adds conduct and disclosure requirements.