Sean McHugh, Senior Director of Market Assurance at VARA, joins Raghda Ibraheem as Dubai’s virtual asset regulator surpasses 57 licences, ahead of Singapore’s 37 and Hong Kong’s 13, and makes clear that the number is not the point.
His most important distinction is on quality over quantity: by year end, every major global crypto platform will have a presence in Dubai. No other jurisdiction will be able to say that. Dubai has become a microcosm of the global virtual asset ecosystem, trading platforms, institutional players, high-frequency traders, hedge funds, and a growing pool of local startups.
On what tech-enabled supervision actually changes for the market, his answer is the most honest available: AI gives his team the equivalent of more graduates. It allows VARA to scale supervision to 57 firms and beyond without over-hiring, reviewing files faster, going back to firms more efficiently, and looking around corners for risk that might otherwise be missed.