Dubai’s virtual asset regulator wants to lift the burden on small crypto companies
Matthew White, chief executive of the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), said the digital asset regulator wants to make life easier for small crypto entities.
During a regulatory panel discussion at Blockchain Week in Paris, White acknowledged that crypto regulations are not perfect, and said he is looking for ways to improve them.
One of the plans under consideration is to reduce financial burdens for small crypto businesses. White said:
“It's not perfect. There are a lot of things I'm looking at right now to make the regime work for everyone. One of these is finding ways to deal with compliance costs for smaller entities.
A VARA official said monitoring is an “expensive exercise” and many people lack the resources. White said this is what the Guardians faced, which led them to seek a solution.
White described a fix in which the larger participants could “handle” the smaller ones. In this structure, costs are incurred by entities that have more resources. He explained.
“The cost of compliance is covered by the big players in the system, which allows the smaller players to come into the ecosystem, to comply, but the costs of compliance don't have to reach the same level that we've found.
VARA's chief executive also said that looking into such things is part of the regulator's journey to allow innovation while creating regulations. The official said that they are working with the industry to understand.
“It moves very quickly. We never have everything as a regulator,” he added.
Related: Lawyer explains new federal virtual property law in UAE
Last year, White replaced former CEO Henson Orser at VARA. On November 16, VARA announced that White's appointment is part of its plans to expand into full market operations.
The change in leadership comes as the United Arab Emirates tightens its laws and imposes fines on unlicensed virtual currency service providers.
In the year On November 8, UAE regulators agreed on joint guidelines for VASPs outlining penalties and sanctions for non-compliance.
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