Dubai’s virtual asset regulatory authority VARA opens the door to regulated crypto staking services with its  revised Custody Services Rulebook, allowing staking by virtual asset custody Service providers.  As per the revised rule book , virtual asset service providers who carry out custody services can offer staking services as well withouth obtaining a separate licence for VA Management and Investment Services. Additional licensing and supervision fees will be payable in connection with the provision of this additional service. As per the amendments,   VASPs Licensed by VARA to carry out Custody Services may only provide Staking from Custody Services, if explicitly authorised to do so by VARA, and such authorisation is expressly stipulated in their Licence. There will be incremental fees for custody services. VASPs who are authorized to offer staking services, will have to comply to all the rules related to custody services while they are offering their staking services as s

  UAE - Hex Trust is the first entity to have received an MVP Operational license from VARA. This is the third licensing stage within the VARA framework, before the FMP Operational license. This means that Hex Trust can now operate under VARA supervision and monitoring. (for more information, please see review www.vara.ae) Mohamed Reda El Sheikh, Head of Compliance MENA &MLRO at Hex Trust, a certified Blockchain Cryptocurrency Auditor, announced this in a LinkedIn post. In the post, El Sheikh stated, "The day has finally arrived. Hex Trust is the first entity to be granted the MVP operational license, and I am the first compliance officer "MLRO" to operate under the first specialized cryptocurrency regulator in the world "VARA". Getting this done is a team effort, and without the support of my superstar colleagues at Hex Trust, I would not have been able to accomplish it. LaraontheBlock spoke with El Sheikh to learn more. El Sheikh explained, "We have