Dubai crypto regulator suspends BitOasis crypto exchange license
Dubai’s cryptocurrency regulator has suspended the license of crypto exchange BitOasis for not meeting mandated conditions within the timeframes set out by the authority.
On July 10, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued two alerts saying its undertaken enforcement action against BitOasis and is reviewing the Dubai-based firm.
VARA said BitOasis’ conditional license, granted April 12, permitted it to operate provided the firm met “key conditions over 30-60 day timeframes” which the regulator said hadn’t been met.
VARA did not detail what conditions BitOasis failed to meet, but until it can fulfill the conditions the firm's “Licence for Institutional and Qualified Retail Investors remains ‘non-operational,’” according to the regulator.
BitOasis received the first of the city’s “minimum viable product operational licenses” from VARA allowing it to provide broker-dealer services to Dubai’s qualified institutional and retail investors according to a May blog post.
The license is the last of a multi-step process before a Full Market Product (FMP) license is issued. Currently, VARA has not issued an FMP license to any firm.
BitOasis will have to meet the conditions set out in its current license in order to apply for the FMP license, VARA explained.
Related: UAE emerges as a pro-Bitcoin mining destination in the Middle East
VARA’s latest action comes after its April reprimand of Su Zhu and Kyle Davies — the co-founders of the collapsed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
The pair landed on VARA’s radar for operating and promoting their new OPNX crypto exchange in Dubai without the required license.
For BitOasis, VARA said it would “continue to monitor the situation for regulatory compliance remediation.”
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