Dubai Regulators Cancel BitOasis License – Here’s Why

On July 10, BitOasis, the first crypto exchange to receive an operating license in Dubai, lost its license due to failure to meet mandated conditions. The Dubai crypto regulator Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) suspended the license and issued two different alerts about the exchange which was granted the conditional license on April 12 with a period to meet its requirements. 

BitOasis Crypto Exchange Failed To Meet License Conditions

According to the recent alerts from the VARA, the BitOasis crypto exchange is now under review. This comes after the authority had granted the conditionals license to BitOasis, allowing it to operate in the country. But it mandated the exchange to meet its requirements within 30-60 days. 

However, the crypto exchange failed to meet the conditions within the time frame resulting in the license suspension. In the alert issued on July 10, Dubai’s authority stated it is exercising its authority under the Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023 (Law No.4). The law permits the regulator to monitor and supervise crypto exchanges, ensuring they comply with the stated requirements.

Also, VARA is empowered to impose remedial measures and enforcement actions against firms defaulting from the requirements. In this case, BitOasis failed to meet the conditions, and VARA has now marked its License status as “non-operational.” 

The regulator stated that it would continue to monitor the BitOasis exchange pending when it complies with the requirements. But in the meantime, the regulator advised the consumers and investors to note the present conditions of BitOasis. 

A Bit On BitOasis And Its Dubai License

BitOasis started operating in Dubai in 2016. The platform supports the buying and selling of over 60 tokens with fiats, such as USD, AED, TL, and SAR, for MENA and GCC users. 

By 2021, the crypto exchange became the first Virtual Assets platform to allow customers to make deposits to bank accounts in the UAE, fast and without fees too. The crypto exchange was also the first to be approved by VARA to operate under the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Operational license. 

The regulator allowed BitOasis to offer broker-dealer services to institutional and retail investors in Dubai. Before the MVP license, VARA had issued a Provisional Approval to the exchange in March 2022, allowing it to operate while completing the licensing process. 

It was also the first crypto hub to register under the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit (Go-AML platform). 

In response, BitOasis addressed the regulatory concerns stating it is “working closely with VARA on fulfilling the remaining conditions and is committed to providing a safe and secure service to its users.”

Nevertheless, BitOasis no longer has the regulator’s approval and must meet the conditions before regaining its status.