Komainu, the cryptocurrency custody joint venture of Nomura, Ledger, and CoinShares, has been granted an operating license from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai. This allows the company to offer its full range of custody services, including institutional staking and collateral management via its Komainu Connect platform, to clients in the emirate.
The platform allows clients to deploy their digital assets in collateralization scenarios while they remain in segregated custody, verifiable on-chain, said Komainu in a statement.
The UAE has been actively encouraging crypto business, with VARA being the world’s first independent crypto regulator. Laser Digital, the digital asset subsidiary of Nomura, and Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, have both received operating licenses from VARA.
We see tremendous opportunities to scale our business here amid a significant boom in assets driven by fund formation and exchange launches, said Sebastian Widmann, head of strategy at Komainu.
Komainu, which launched in June 2020, provides custody services to exchanges, financial institutions, asset managers, corporations, and government agencies.