Komainu, a regulated digital asset custody service provider built by institutions for institutions, announced that it has been granted the operating license by the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai after securing its MVP license last November.
Achieving this final step in VARA’s licensing process allows Komainu to “offer its full suite of custody services, including institutional staking and collateral management via its Komainu Connect platform to clients in the Emirate.”
Located in Dubai, Komainu MEA FZE is further commitment from Komainu “to the continued build-out of a substantial organisation to achieve its goals in the region.”
Sebastian Widmann, Komainu’s Head of Strategy, said:
“We see tremendous opportunities to scale our business here amid a significant boom in assets driven by fund formation and exchange launches. Dubai has a vibrant digital asset ecosystem and impressive talent pool, and we are proud to contribute to the growth of this innovative financial hub. Our presence and desirable regulatory status in the region marks another differentiator for us as we execute the next phase of our business.”
VARA regulations are designed “to cater for the provision of permissible activities and services to customers and investors from the Emirate of Dubai.”
With bespoke rules and guidelines designed to provide clarity, assure certainty, and mitigate market risks, VARA has “developed a model framework for global economic sustainability within an innovation-centric environment that is truly borderless, technology agnostic, and future-focused.”
Komainu was established in 2018 “to fill a void and provide institutions with a secure and compliant custody service for investment in digital assets.”
Launched in June 2020, Komainu currently custodies assets “for exchanges, financial institutions, asset managers, corporations, and government agencies.”
As noted in the update, Komainu is a regulated digital asset custodian “built by institutions for institutions and created as a joint venture between Nomura, digital asset manager CoinShares, and digital asset security company Ledger.”
Offering multi-asset support with regulatory compliance, Komainu is now “merging traditional financial services with leading security standards for the next generation of institutional custody.”
Headquartered in Jersey and with offices in London, Dublin, Dubai, and Singapore, Komainu is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) and Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).”