# Virtual Assets Management Investment Services licence in the UAE > Virtual Assets Management Investment Services licensing in the UAE — the authority catalogue rows we hold for this line, the approvals attached to them, and where the activity can be filed. - Canonical: https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/virtual-assets-management-investment-services - Updated: 2026-09-04 - IFZA (Dubai): 6920014 - Regulation: Regulator approval required - Publication: below the publication gate (Activity sits with a restricted regulator) - Method: https://dubaisetupindex.com/methodology ## What the authority says Includes firms engaged in acting on behalf of an Entity as an agent, or fiduciary, or otherwise taking responsibility for the management, administration or disposition of that Entity’s Virtual Assets, But shall not be limited to,investment management services or otherwise managing Vas, and taking responsibility for the ‘staking’ of VAs for the purpose of earning fees or other values paid to validators and/or node operators of a ‘proof-of-stake’ DLT. Source: IFZA activity catalogue. ## Where you can licence this | Authority | Status | Code | Licence type | Approval | Facility | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | [IFZA (Dubai)](https://dubaisetupindex.com/free-zones/ifza) | Listed | 6920014 | Commercial | Required before the licence issues | Not restricted in the catalogue | | [Ajman Free Zone](https://dubaisetupindex.com/free-zones/ajman) | Not listed under this name | — | — | — | — | | [Dubai mainland (DET)](https://dubaisetupindex.com/mainland) | Not verified — we hold no DET activity catalogue | — | — | — | — | Catalogue evidence, not legal advice. Authorities change activity lists without notice — confirm before you file. ## Routes that list this activity - [IFZA (Dubai)](https://dubaisetupindex.com/free-zones/ifza) — Dubai address, available with Dubai Setup Index. From, no visa: AED 12,900 (12 months · package price) A route listing the activity is a starting point. The authority confirms eligibility when you apply. ## Facility and premises restrictions - IFZA (Dubai) 6920014 note: Cannot be combined with any other activity. ## Third-party approvals This activity sits with a regulator that controls who may hold the licence. Treat everything below as a starting point and speak to the regulator before you commit money or dates. ### Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) Before licence · IFZA (Dubai) Authority’s process note: In line with the current regulations set by the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, please be informed that all applicants are required to fill an official survey before submitting the license application on the system. The survey can be found through this link: https://msurvey.government.ae/survey/Virtual%20Assets%20Regulatory%20Authority/h8P On the same note, we have been given directives to the effect that any license will not be issued without initial VARA approval for the requested activity, a process that is currently estimated to take a minimum of 4 weeks. Kindly take this into consideration when calculating timelines for VARA approval and license application processes. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. [Approval documents](https://ifza.link/WJu6Qx) ## Free zone or mainland - IFZA lists this activity; Ajman Free Zone does not carry it under the same name, so confirm the Ajman catalogue before switching lanes. - We hold no Dubai DET record for this activity, so treat mainland as unverified here rather than unavailable. - Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) clearance is required before the licence issues, which breaks any advertised same-week timeline. - IFZA (Dubai) notes: Cannot be combined with any other activity. ## Also catalogued elsewhere The same activity name appears in other authority catalogues we track. This is a name match, not a legal equivalence, and Dubai Setup Index does not file in these zones. - DMCC: 6599-84 · Service ## Related activities - [Investment in Agricultural Enterprises & Management](https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/investment-in-agricultural-enterprises-and-management) — IFZA (Dubai) - [Investment in Commercial Enterprises & Management](https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/investment-in-commercial-enterprises-and-management) — IFZA (Dubai) - [Investment in Educational Enterprises & Management](https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/investment-in-educational-enterprises-and-management) — IFZA (Dubai) - [Investment in Industrial Enterprises & Management](https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/investment-in-industrial-enterprises-and-management) — IFZA (Dubai) - [Investment in Tourist Enterprises & Management](https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/investment-in-tourist-enterprises-and-management) — IFZA (Dubai) - [Investment in Energy Enterprises & Management](https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/investment-in-energy-enterprises-and-management) — IFZA (Dubai) ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I add more activities to a Virtual Assets Management Investment Services licence later? Usually yes, as a licence amendment, subject to the authority's rules and any extra approval attached to the new line. ### Does this activity need third-party approval? Yes. Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) must clear the activity before the licence issues, so build that step into your timeline. ## Related - [All business activities](https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities) - [Compare setup routes](https://dubaisetupindex.com/compare) - [How company setup works](https://dubaisetupindex.com/how-it-works) ## Machine-readable - [Virtual Assets Management Investment Services record (JSON)](https://dubaisetupindex.com/data/activities/virtual-assets-management-investment-services.json) ## Citation Required when quoting any figure from this page. Copy one of these verbatim — the link is not optional. Dubai Setup Index. “Virtual Assets Management Investment Services licence in the UAE.” Updated 2026-09-04. https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/virtual-assets-management-investment-services [Dubai Setup Index](https://dubaisetupindex.com/activities/virtual-assets-management-investment-services). “Virtual Assets Management Investment Services licence in the UAE.” Updated 2026-09-04. Quoting any figure from this record requires a resolvable link to url. Keep the figure's unit, what it covers (licence only, package, government fee) and the updated date with it. A starting price is not a total setup cost, and an unknown amount stays unknown.