Standing as of June 12, 2026: SCA Resolution No. 26/RM of 2023, formally titled the Chairman of the Authority’s Board of Administrators’ Decision No. (26/Chairman) of 2023 concerning the Regulation of Virtual Assets Platform Operator, was the UAE federal framework for digital belongings platform operators earlier than the 2026 Capital Market Authority framework. The choice was issued on April 14, 2023 and took impact on publication within the Official Gazette. Lexis Center East lists Official Gazette Problem No. 751 dated Could 15, 2023 and reviews that CMA Resolution No. 04/RM/2026 abrogated the 2023 choice.
The choice ought to due to this fact be handled as a historic, repealed UAE digital belongings regulation slightly than the present working rulebook. Present customers ought to evaluate the successor CMA framework and any relevant Dubai VARA, ADGM FSRA, DIFC DFSA, Central Financial institution, or free-zone guidelines the place related. This profile is a legal-reference abstract and never authorized recommendation.
What the 2023 SCA digital belongings platform operator choice lined
The 2023 choice utilized to digital belongings platform operators within the State. It outlined a digital belongings platform operator because the authorized particular person licensed by the Securities and Commodities Authority to control digital asset transactions via a digital belongings platform. A platform was framed as infrastructure for itemizing, buying and selling, transferring possession, clearing and settling digital belongings, and storing associated info via distributed ledger know-how or related know-how.
Article 3 created an vital itemizing management: a digital asset couldn’t be traded within the UAE except it was accepted on the official listing of a licensed platform operator and registered with the Authority. Article 4 then required the operator to register every accepted digital asset with the Authority earlier than buying and selling commenced and allowed the Authority to supervise platform and VASP membership charges.
Key provisions for digital belongings platform operators
- Methods and operational resilience: operators needed to preserve efficient digital techniques, business-continuity and disaster-recovery preparations, stress testing, IT controls, and risk-management processes.
- Operational guidelines: operators needed to set guidelines for membership, accepted belongings, defaults, investor entry, AML/CFT compliance, disciplinary procedures, dispute settlement, public availability, session, and submitting with the Authority.
- Transparency and information: operators had to supply details about dangers, charges and prices; document actions, transactions and orders; preserve transaction information for at the least 10 years; shield information; and disclose required info to the Authority.
- Consumer asset safety: operators needed to segregate their very own cash and digital belongings from clients’ cash and digital belongings, present secure custody and switch procedures, determine clients and beneficiaries, and reconcile accounts.
- Buying and selling controls: operators needed to set up honest and orderly buying and selling guidelines, pre- and post-trade info, suspension and cancellation mechanisms, short-selling and lending controls, error insurance policies, clearing and settlement preparations, and entry controls.
Relationship to the broader UAE digital belongings framework
SCA Resolution No. 26/RM of 2023 was issued underneath the broader framework created by Cupboard Decision No. 111 of 2022, which regulated digital belongings and VASPs within the UAE, together with free zones, whereas excluding monetary free zones, sure digital securities and commodity contracts, and payment-purpose digital belongings inside Central Financial institution competence. Cupboard Decision No. 111 additionally recognized SCA-licensed actions resembling VA platform operation, VA change companies, switch companies, brokerage, and custody.
Cupboard Decision No. 99 of 2024 later added a desk of violations and administrative penalties for breaches of Cupboard Decision No. 111 and its implementing devices, together with particular references to VAPO obligations underneath SCA Resolution No. 26/RM of 2023.
Standing and successor framework
Federal Decree-Legislation No. 32 of 2025 changed the Securities and Commodities Authority with the Capital Market Authority and supplied that references to the SCA in laws could be learn as references to the CMA. It additionally continued Cupboard Decision No. 111, Cupboard Decision No. 112, and prior Authority resolutions to the extent not inconsistent with the brand new legal guidelines, till repealed, amended, or outmoded.
Lexis Center East reviews that CMA Resolution No. 04/RM/2026, issued on February 13, 2026, abrogated Securities and Commodities Authority Resolution No. 26/RM/2023. For CryptoSlate’s profile taxonomy, this helps mapping the 2023 SCA VAPO choice to Repealed, with an editorial verification notice that the abrogation must be checked towards the official CMA textual content if accessible.
