Nomura’s Laser Digital Scores Dubai Crypto Derivatives Approval – A Game Changer?

Dubai's regulators just handed Nomura-backed Laser Digital the keys to the crypto derivatives kingdom. This isn't just another licensing rubber stamp—it's a strategic power move in the world's most aggressive digital asset sandbox.

Wall Street meets the desert

The approval lets Laser trade crypto futures and options under Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). Forget 'wait-and-see'—this is Nomura planting its flag while traditional finance still debates whether crypto is 'real.'

Why derivatives matter

Institutional money flows where the leverage lives. With this green light, Laser can now offer the complex instruments hedge funds crave—all while skirting the regulatory purgatory choking US crypto markets.

The cynical take

Another day, another financial giant hedging its bets—literally. Nomura gets to play 'crypto innovator' while keeping its traditional revenue streams safely untouched. How very... institutional of them.

What to know

• Laser Digital says it is the first regulated entity under VARA to offer direct client-facing crypto OTC option services.

• Laser Digital is looking at major crypto tokens, initially offering medium-dated options, executed under ISDA agreements.

Laser Digital, the cryptocurrency trading and servicing subsidiary of Japanese bank Nomura, secured a limited license to offer regulated, over-the-counter (OTC) crypto derivatives from Dubai under the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority’s (VARA) pilot framework.

Under this regime, Laser Digital says it is the first regulated entity under VARA to offer direct client-facing crypto OTC option services.

As crypto derivatives ramp up around the globe, places like Dubai with its crypto-friendly regulatory framework, have become hot destinations for firms. For example, Deribit, the crypto derivatives platform recently acquired by Coinbase, also has Dubai plans in the works.

“Crypto has become very Dubai-centered and there is this kind of HYPE around people moving into Dubai and the VARA regulatory environment,” said Johannes Woolard, chief product officer at Laser Digital in an interview. “It's because Dubai does a good job. They make you justify, in a lot of detail, what you're going to do, but then once you've justified it, they're willing to give you quite a long leash.”

Laser Digital is looking at major crypto tokens, initially offering medium-dated options, executed under ISDA agreements, Woolard said. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association is a trade organization of participants in the market for over-the-counter derivatives.

“It’s going to be vanilla structures, nothing complicated, just to grow that simple business and ecosystem. On top of that, you can build yield enhancement things, bring in the work that we do around borrow lending, and bring in the spot franchise. But initially, just keep it simple.”