Share this article

Nomura-Backed Crypto Custody Firm Komainu Wins Operating License in Dubai

The company can now offer its full range of digital asset custody services to clients in the emirate, including institutional staking and collateral management.

Updated Sep 1, 2023, 3:20 p.m. Published Aug 22, 2023, 10:01 a.m.
jwp-player-placeholder

Komainu, the cryptocurrency custody joint venture of Nomura, Ledger and CoinShares, has received an operating license from the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai.

Komainu can now offer its full range of custody services, including institutional staking and collateral management via its Komainu Connect platform, to clients in the emirate, the company said in a statement. The platform allows clients to deploy their digital assets in collateralization scenarios while they remain in segregated custody, verifiable on-chain.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today. See all newsletters

The region has been making a push to attract crypto business. In March 2022 the UAE announced VARA as the world’s first independent crypto regulator. Laser Digital, the digital asset subsidiary of financial services giant Nomura, received an operating license from VARA earlier this month. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, won a license to operate in Dubai in July.

“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 launched in June 2020, and provides custody services to exchanges, financial institutions, asset managers, corporations and government agencies.

Read more: OKX Chooses Nomura-Backed Crypto Storage Firm Komainu as Custodian

More For You

KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

16:9 Image

KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

What to know:

  • KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
  • This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
  • Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
  • Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
  • Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

More For You

A few Republicans have crypto's destiny in their hands at the SEC, CFTC

SEC GOP contingent

After holiday leadership shifts, the two U.S. markets regulators — the SEC and CFTC — are now run only by pro-crypto Republicans, with Congress still debating.

What to know:

  • The crypto industry finally has two permanent, crypto-friendly chairmen at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and they have no Democratic pushback.
  • The lack of fully stocked commissions at the market regulators is a big problem in the eyes of Senate Democrats negotiating the crypto market structure bill.
  • The lone remaining Democrat, Caroline Crenshaw, left the SEC last week.