- Client: Animoca Brands — global digital-assets leader; portfolio of 600+ Web3 companies and digital assets.
- Licence: VARA Virtual Asset Service Provider licence, announced 16 February 2026.
- Activities: VA Broker-Dealer Services and VA Management and Investment Services, in and from Dubai (excluding the DIFC), for global institutional and qualified investors.
- Milestone: the first regulated VASP licence secured by the Animoca Brands group globally.
- Neo Legal team: Harly Zappino (lead), Manpreet Kaur (licensing & compliance), May Wong (Asia-facing coordination).
A landmark licence for institutional Web3
On 16 February 2026, Animoca Brands announced that it had received a Virtual Asset Service Provider licence from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. The licence authorises the group to provide VA Broker-Dealer Services and VA Management and Investment Services in and from the Emirate of Dubai (excluding the DIFC) for global institutional and qualified investors — and marks the first regulated VASP licence obtained anywhere in the Animoca Brands group. Announcing the grant, managing director for the Middle East Omar Elassar called it “an important milestone for Animoca Brands’ operations.”
Neo Legal acted as UAE virtual-asset regulatory counsel on the mandate, working alongside Animoca Brands’ internal legal and compliance team and the group’s other advisers from structuring through application, regulatory engagement and grant.
What the two activities actually permit
Broker-Dealer Services is VARA’s activity for dealing in and arranging virtual-asset transactions for clients — the regulated channel through which intermediated VA trading runs in Dubai. VA Management and Investment Services covers managing client virtual-asset portfolios and providing virtual-asset investment services — the foundation for institutional-grade digital-asset investment offerings. Combined on one VASP licence, the two activities give a group of Animoca’s scale a regulated Dubai platform for engaging Web3 foundations and institutional and qualified investors — without touching the retail perimeter, and with the DIFC carved out to its own regime.
How the mandate ran
The programme followed the discipline we apply to every substantial VARA application: perimeter and activity scoping first, so the licence matched the business actually being built; a business plan and governance file designed to survive regulatory scrutiny rather than merely describe ambitions; fit-and-proper submissions for the senior team; and managed engagement with VARA through its question rounds to grant. The wider methodology is set out in our guide to taking a virtual-asset business from concept to VARA launch.
The Neo Legal team
The mandate was led by Harly Zappino, founder and managing partner, who has advised more than 1,000 clients across digital assets and financial services since 2015. Manpreet Kaur, director of licensing and compliance — directly involved at VARA in the development of the UAE virtual-asset framework — ran licensing execution. May Wong, special counsel and China Desk lead, coordinated Asia-facing aspects of the engagement for the Hong Kong-founded group.
What it signals for Dubai
A group with Animoca’s global footprint choosing Dubai for its first regulated VASP licence is a statement about where institutional Web3 is consolidating. VARA’s activity-based regime gives sophisticated groups a way to bring regulated digital-asset services to institutional and qualified investors inside a written framework — and the same pathway is open to exchanges, asset managers and tokenisation platforms building toward the region. If that is your roadmap, start with the VARA practice page or our RWA tokenisation and derivatives licensing hubs.
What does Animoca Brands' VARA licence authorise?
The Virtual Asset Service Provider licence, announced on 16 February 2026, authorises Animoca Brands to provide VA Broker-Dealer Services and VA Management and Investment Services in and from the Emirate of Dubai (excluding the DIFC) for global institutional and qualified investors. It is the first regulated VASP licence obtained by the Animoca Brands group globally.
What are VA Management and Investment Services under VARA?
It is the VARA activity covering the management of client virtual-asset portfolios and the provision of virtual-asset investment services - the regulated foundation for institutional-grade digital-asset investment offerings from Dubai. Together with Broker-Dealer Services, it gives a group like Animoca Brands a regulated platform to serve institutional and qualified investors across its Web3 investment ecosystem.
What are Broker-Dealer Services under VARA?
The VARA activity covering dealing in and arranging transactions in virtual assets for clients - the licence category through which regulated intermediation of virtual-asset trades runs in Dubai. Neo Legal's guide to the wider licensing landscape, including how activities combine on a single VASP licence, is published at neolegal.ae/insights/crypto-exchange-licence-uae.
Who advised Animoca Brands on the VARA licence?
Neo Legal acted as UAE virtual-asset regulatory counsel, working alongside Animoca Brands' internal legal and compliance team and the group's other advisers. The Neo Legal team was led by founder and managing partner Harly Zappino, with director of licensing and compliance Manpreet Kaur - who was directly involved at VARA in the development of the UAE virtual-asset framework - and special counsel May Wong coordinating Asia-facing aspects of the engagement.
