Flipster’s UAE Expansion and What It Signals About Competing in a Regulated Market
The United Arab Emirates has established some of the outlined regulatory frameworks for crypto exchanges. Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority points licenses, whereas Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority regulates platforms working in the Abu Dhabi Global Market. The readability has drawn worldwide platforms looking for formal authorization fairly than working in regulatory grey zones.
Just final week, on February 12, 2026, perpetuals-focused buying and selling platform Flipster joined the rising checklist, securing in-principle approval from VARA by means of its native entity, Flipster FZE. It’s the primary huge regulatory inexperienced mild for the change in the UAE, paving the best way for regulated spot buying and selling to start out with extra merchandise prone to observe as soon as full licensing clears.
BeInCrypto spoke with Benjamin Grolimund, General Manager at Flipster FZE, to dig into the choice: why the UAE grew to become Flipster’s debut regulated market, the inner efforts undertaken to strengthen compliance requirements, and what this says about the place the aggressive panorama for exchanges is heading in 2026.
Building Within a Defined Framework
Securing in-principle approval indicators Flipster’s dedication to constructing a long-term presence in the UAE, in accordance with Grolimund. Indeed, the UAE’s regulatory readability was central to the choice.
Grolimund sees that fairly than responding to crypto reactively, Dubai established a devoted supervisory authority with outlined expectations for operators. He informed BeInCrypto:
“The UAE combines regulatory readability with financial ambition. That readability issues. Regulatory predictability is a aggressive benefit, notably for an change planning long-term enlargement.”
Geography additionally factored into the equation. The UAE connects main monetary facilities throughout Asia and Europe, providing exchanges a regulated base from which to serve a number of markets. For a platform increasing past one area, that positioning carries operational benefits.
Grolimund added:
“There can be a long-term orientation to how digital infrastructure is being constructed in the Middle East. Digital property are a part of broader financial diversification efforts, not handled as a passing cycle. That atmosphere helps sustainable development fairly than volatility-driven enlargement.”
Institutionalizing Readiness
Progressing from in-principle approval towards full authorization required operational self-discipline past product enlargement.
Preparing for supervised exercise in the UAE meant formalizing governance constructions, refining threat evaluation methodologies, and clarifying reporting traces aligned with VARA’s expectations. Monitoring techniques have been enhanced, onboarding controls strengthened, and accountability mapped throughout product, engineering, authorized, and compliance groups.
“Growth below supervision calls for readability of accountability,” Grolimund mentioned.
In his view, working in the UAE required embedding regulatory alignment into core processes fairly than treating compliance as an exterior layer. Accountability constructions have been clarified, threat controls strengthened, and reporting frameworks aligned early in the method.
Flipster has additionally established a bodily presence in Dubai, relocating expertise from world places of work and hiring domestically. The license, he emphasised, will not be being handled as a comfort construction.
“Some corporations deal with licensing as an enlargement milestone. We see it as the start line of constructing one thing sturdy.”
Performance Under Supervision
The in-principle approval permits Flipster FZE to maneuver towards spot buying and selling as its preliminary licensed exercise in the UAE. As regulatory licensing turns into normal amongst world exchanges, the excellence more and more lies in how platforms function as soon as supervision begins.
Flipster constructed its infrastructure for energetic merchants, prioritizing deep liquidity and environment friendly execution throughout perpetual futures markets. Grolimund mentioned getting into a regulated jurisdiction doesn’t change that basis. It raises the requirements round it.
“Entering a regulated market doesn’t change our concentrate on efficiency,” he mentioned. “It challenges us to take care of velocity and product sharpness whereas working with stronger governance.”
Rather than treating compliance as a separate layer, he described the target as integrating governance into the working core. Matching engines, liquidity techniques, and threat controls should operate inside clearly outlined escalation pathways and reporting constructions.
“Speed with out construction doesn’t final,” Grolimund affirmed.
From Cycles to Structure
Looking on the bigger image, Grolimund mentioned the UAE is anticipated to function a foundational regulated market inside Flipster’s broader enlargement technique over the subsequent a number of years. The instant precedence is progressing from in-principle approval to full authorization and sustaining operations below VARA’s oversight.
The transfer displays a broader recalibration throughout the change sector. As structured regulatory regimes increase, licensing is changing into a baseline requirement fairly than a differentiator. The distinction could lie in whether or not platforms can maintain liquidity and execution high quality whereas working below supervision.
“Our funding in the UAE displays how we intend to strategy each market we enter,” Grolimund mentioned.
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