Dubai awards conditional crypto license to climate-friendly Web3 firm

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) granted a conditional license to Enjinstarter’s AYA platform for offering crypto asset and investment services. 

On Dec. 11, the Dubai arm of Web3 launchpad and advisory firm Enjinstarter received a crypto license subject to fulfilling certain conditions before the commencement of services. After meeting all the requirements of VARA, the platform will be subject to regulatory verification and approval. The announcement read:

The license remains non-operational until the company fully satisfies all remaining conditions and select localization requirements defined by VARA.

Enjinstarter has not yet responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comments about the outstanding regulatory prerequisites. However, in the official announcement, Prakash Somosundram, the co-founder and CEO of Enjinstarter and the AYA foundation, shared the company’s willingness to comply with the process laid out by VARA.

AYA is a climate-focused launchpad that supports innovations around sustainability, such as reforestation, nature credits, mangrove conservation and sustainable agriculture. In addition to serving as a finance platform for green initiatives, AYA helps projects dedicated to climate action with blockchain and Web3 infrastructure.

While AYA works on fulfilling the VARA prerequisites for an operational license, the company revealed its ongoing collaboration with United Arab Emirates-based The Storey Group on a campaign to plant mangroves in Dubai. Explaining the company’s role in helping fight climate change, Vasseh Ahmed, managing director of Enjinstarter MENA, stated:

We are looking to work with founders and projects that have a unique proposition within our key focus areas by helping them build their product narrative, raise capital, and launch their projects.

A recent Cointelegraph interview with Deepa Raja Carbon, managing director and vice chair at VARA, revealed the regulator’s intent to remain agile and collaborative to respond swiftly and effectively to market needs.

Carbon also told Cointelegraph about VARA’s inherent consultative and collaborative approach, wherein it engages in conversations with various stakeholders, from industry leaders and innovators to peer regulators and legislators.

“We ensured our guidelines are comprehensive and resonate with the market’s needs and realities. By working in concert with Dubai’s established entities like DET [the Department of Economy and Tourism] and the DFZC [Dubai Free Zones Council]  for mainland and the various free zones, we’ve crafted a unified and fungible framework,” she concluded.