Triple-A:- Singapore-based crypto payments infrastructure provider Triple-A has added another regulatory milestone to its global expansion strategy.
It has now secured In-Principle Approval (IPA) from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for broker-dealer services.
The approval moves Triple-A into the final stage of Dubai’s licensing process. Now, it only requires to complete operational readiness requirements and satisfy remaining regulatory conditions before receiving a full VARA license.
What the VARA Approval Means for Triple-A
Under VARA’s framework, a Broker-Dealer licence would enable Triple-A to arrange, execute and facilitate virtual asset transactions on behalf of clients.
As per its official announcement, this includes buying, selling and distributing digital assets, subject to the scope of its final licence and VARA’s rules. It also permits firms to deal as principal in certain circumstances and provide related brokerage services.
Triple-A is a crypto payment infra provider, founded in 2017 by fintech entrepreneur Eric Barbier. It helps businesses accept and move digital assets rather than offering cryptocurrency trading services.
Its payment infrastructure allows merchants to accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and USDC, while settling funds in either digital assets or local fiat currencies. This enables businesses to integrate crypto payments without managing wallets, custody or cryptocurrency price volatility.
Eric said in a Linkedin post on the regulatory feat, “My vision has always been to be a payment institution first and foremost, and to use crypto rails to execute payments because they’re more efficient.”
It also comes as the Dubai’s key regulator VARA continues to support crypto innovation in the region. In a Block of Fame conversation, VARA General counsel Ruben Bombardi has said, “The Next Phase of Digital Finance Will Be Built at the Intersection of Regulation and Innovation”. Ruben explained in his authored op-ed that regulatory clarity is increasingly becoming the foundation for institutional adoption. This is giving licensed firms a stronger position to scale digital asset services as traditional finance and blockchain converge.
Expands Global Regulatory Footprint
A full VARA licence would add another jurisdiction to Triple-A’s expanding regulatory footprint.
This comes as recently VARA announced that there are only 50 firms who currently hold full VARA licenses, making Triple-A soon to be included in that exclusive list. Receiving an In-Principle Approval signifies that VARA has completed its regulatory review of the company’s application. It has now cleared it to proceed toward final licensing, subject to operational and compliance requirements.
The company already operates under a Major Payment Institution licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
It is also authorised under the European Union’s MiCA framework at a time when there are leading crypto firms still outside MiCA. Triple-A’s presence expands to US as well witth Money Transmitter Licenses across more than 20 U.S. states, and is registered as a Money Services Business (MSB) with FinCEN in the United States.
Today, Triple-A supports businesses in more than 120 markets. It serves over 20,000 customers, and provides enterprise payment infrastructure across e-commerce, travel, fintech, luxury retail and digital platforms. The company also offers stablecoin payment rails, payout infrastructure and API-based payment solutions.
Thus, the Dubai approval would further reinforce Triple-A’s strategy of expanding through regulated financial markets.
Sneha Agrawal 
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