For private clients with a large virtual-asset position
A private client converting a large crypto position
The short answer
A private client converts a large virtual-asset position on a desk licensed by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for Broker-Dealer Services, and settles to a bank account in their own name. The desk cannot execute until its due diligence is complete, and it classifies you as a Retail or Qualified Investor; for an individual, the Qualified test is relevant knowledge of virtual assets plus net assets of at least AED 3,500,000 or annual income of AED 700,000 or more. We assess the fit, prepare the file the desk and the bank will ask for and coordinate onboarding to the desk's decision; we never quote a price.
Risk warning
Virtual assets are highly volatile and can lose all of their value. They may not be liquid, some transfers cannot be reversed, and holders do not benefit from any form of financial protection. They are not suitable for every investor, and past performance is no guide to future performance.
Execution is on a VARA Broker-Dealer Services licence, under the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority's oversight, on the desk's own terms and its classification of you as a client. Velarozone does not provide virtual-asset services or investment advice, and nothing on this page is a price or a recommendation to trade.
A private holder converting a large position meets two institutions: the desk that executes and the bank that receives. The desk must verify your identity and cannot execute for you until its due diligence is complete. If it rates you high risk, or you are a politically exposed person (someone who holds or has held a prominent public function), VARA's rules also require it to verify your source of wealth and source of funds, and the first payment into your desk account must come from an account in your name at a licensed institution. The bank asks for the same source-of-wealth and source-of-funds narrative, and also wants to know why a large sum is arriving from a virtual-asset counterparty, with the desk's licence beside it.
The file that satisfies both is built once. For the desk, VARA's rules call for a copy of a valid identity document, your nationality, address, place of birth and your employer's name and address. If you rely on the net-assets test for Qualified Investor status, add account statements showing the assets are liquid; only 50% of the market value of your virtual assets counts, and your primary residence is excluded. Add the history of the position and how it was acquired, wallet or custody evidence, the bank account the fiat settles to and the licensed desk's details. A holder who arrives with that file transacts; one who arrives without it is asked for each item by the desk and the bank in turn, while the price moves.
At a glance
- Indicative cost
- The desk quotes each trade on its own terms and the spread is the desk's; VARA requires it to disclose the fee or commission it keeps unless it gives a discretionary quote to a Qualified or Institutional Investor. The Velarozone service fee for the file and coordination is itemised in your engagement letter.
- Timing
- Fit assessed in days and the file prepared once. The desk cannot execute until its due diligence is complete, and the bank's review runs on its own clock.
- What's included
- Whether a licensed desk is the right route for the size
- One file for the desk's onboarding and the bank's questions
- Coordination from onboarding to settlement
This is for you if
- You hold a large position personally and want to convert part or all of it, or to buy in size.
- Your bank has questioned, or would question, a large receipt from a virtual-asset counterparty.
- You want a licensed counterparty, a quote for the size and settlement to an account in your name. Where VARA's best-execution rule applies, the size of the trade is one of the factors the desk must weigh.
- You are relocating to the UAE, or already resident, and want to settle to a bank account in your name here. The desk records your address, and for a high-risk client must verify a current residential address that is not a post office box.
This may not be the right route if
- You want investment advice, a price view or a promise of a return; none is given.
- You want anonymity; the desk and the bank are required to know who you are and where the assets came from.
- You want the assets or the money moved outside a licensed desk and a bank account in your own name; that is not a route we will take forward.
At a glance
- Indicative cost
- The desk quotes each trade on its own terms and the spread is the desk's; VARA requires it to disclose the fee or commission it keeps unless it gives a discretionary quote to a Qualified or Institutional Investor. The Velarozone service fee for the file and coordination is itemised in your engagement letter.
- Timing
- Fit assessed in days and the file prepared once. The desk cannot execute until its due diligence is complete, and the bank's review runs on its own clock.
- What's included
- Whether a licensed desk is the right route for the size
- One file for the desk's onboarding and the bank's questions
- Coordination from onboarding to settlement
What this service includes
- An assessment of fit: whether a licensed desk is the right route for the size and the circumstances, including whether you are likely to meet VARA's Qualified Investor test.
- The client file prepared once for the desk's onboarding and the bank's questions.
- Access to a VARA-licensed desk; coordination of the onboarding to the desk's decision.
- The receiving bank prepared for the settlement, or a bank found whose appetite includes it.
- Coordination through to settlement; the trade and its price are the desk's.
What it does not include
- Execution, custody and pricing, which sit with the licensed desk under its own terms.
- Investment, tax or legal advice; tax and legal questions go to a licensed adviser, which we coordinate.
- Any promise about the desk's decision, its quote or the bank's acceptance.
Process
How the work is sequenced
Each stage has its own dependencies (activity approvals, document legalisation, authority processing, and bank review), and we report progress against them rather than against one overall date.
- 01
Fit
Size, circumstances and the bank's likely position assessed.
- 02
File
Identification, source of wealth and funds, custody evidence and the settlement account documented.
- 03
Onboarding
The desk onboards you under its own due diligence and VARA's client classification.
If you are relocating to the UAE as well, the visa pages set out the residency routes. The desk records your address in its due diligence, so residence documents belong in the file.
Prefer to start in writing? Send the details through the contact form.
Start with a structure assessment
In an initial consultation you receive a plain-language decision summary, a document-preparation list, and the next actions for your situation. Current figures are confirmed within your adviser-reviewed route comparison.
Desk and bank
What the desk and the bank each need
Both start from who you are and where the assets came from, then differ on what they need to see next.
What a licensed broker-dealer and a receiving bank each require of a private client converting a large position.
Who you are
- The desk
- Identification, address, employer, and VARA classification as Retail or Qualified Investor
- The bank
- Identification, residence, the account holder
Where the assets came from
- The desk
- Source of wealth and source of funds, with evidence; VARA requires both verified for high-risk clients and PEPs
- The bank
- The same narrative, with the desk's licence beside it
Where the assets are
- The desk
- Wallet or custody evidence and control
- The bank
- Not usually asked; the desk's settlement is what arrives
Where the money goes
- The desk
- A bank account in your name
- The bank
- An explanation for the incoming settlement
The trade
- The desk
- Quoted by the desk for the size; settled under its terms
- The bank
- Received as a transfer from a licensed counterparty
| Question | The desk | The bank |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are | Identification, address, employer, and VARA classification as Retail or Qualified Investor | Identification, residence, the account holder |
| Where the assets came from | Source of wealth and source of funds, with evidence; VARA requires both verified for high-risk clients and PEPs | The same narrative, with the desk's licence beside it |
| Where the assets are | Wallet or custody evidence and control | Not usually asked; the desk's settlement is what arrives |
| Where the money goes | A bank account in your name | An explanation for the incoming settlement |
| The trade | Quoted by the desk for the size; settled under its terms | Received as a transfer from a licensed counterparty |
The service
Crypto OTC execution through a licensed desk
The desk that executes holds a VARA Broker-Dealer Services licence; the service sets out that licence and the full risk warning.
See the crypto OTC service
Every route is planned against how the business will actually operate in the UAE.
Licence and approvals
The question the desk and the bank both ask
A desk must verify source of wealth and source of funds for a high-risk client or a politically exposed person, and a receiving bank asks the same of a large incoming settlement.
After the licence
What you may also need
The four services most founders in this situation ask about next, each on its own page.
Visas & PRO services
Residence visas for owners, staff and family, plus the MOHRE labour files, medicals and Emirates ID renewals that keep a licence and its people in good standing. A sponsored visa lasts 1, 2 or 3 years; approval stays with the authority.
→UAE bank account setup
A bank-ready file built around your ownership, activity and expected transactions, matched to the bank whose risk appetite suits your profile. The bank alone decides approval and timing.
→Accounting & tax
Monthly bookkeeping, VAT and corporate-tax filings and year-end accounts, with statutory audit signed by a registered auditor.
→Legal services
Contracts, corporate documents, disputes and regulatory matters, advised by lawyers licensed to practise in the UAE and named in the engagement letter.
→
Next decision
Related reading
Questions
Frequently asked
- How large a position does this suit?
- Large enough that a retail exchange order would move the price or produce a settlement a bank would question. The desk decides what it will quote. Separately, VARA's Qualified Investor test for an individual is net assets of at least AED 3,500,000, counting only 50% of the market value of virtual assets, or annual income of AED 700,000 or more. The fit assessment checks both before anyone is onboarded.
- Will my bank accept the money?
- Banks decide on their own criteria, and a large receipt from a virtual-asset counterparty is reviewed closely. We cannot promise acceptance. What helps is a settlement from a licensed desk into an account in your own name, with a source-of-funds file the bank has already seen. We prepare that file before the trade, not after.
- Do I have to be resident in the UAE?
- VARA's tests for an individual turn on knowledge of virtual assets, net assets and annual income, not on residence. Residence still matters to the desk's due diligence: it must collect your address, and for a high-risk client verify a current residential address that is not a post office box. Each desk also sets its own onboarding rules, so the fit assessment covers residence first.
- What does the desk charge?
- The desk sets its own pricing; none is published here or set by us. VARA requires a desk to disclose the fee or commission it keeps before execution and in the trade confirmation, except on a discretionary quote to a Qualified or Institutional Investor. Our fee for the file and coordination is itemised in your engagement letter.
- Is this taxed?
- Personal tax depends on your residence and the rules of the countries concerned, and is a question for a licensed tax adviser, whom we coordinate. The UAE position is theirs to state, not ours.
Sources
- Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA)
- VARA Broker-Dealer Services Rulebook
- VARA Regulations on the Marketing of Virtual Assets and Related Activities 2024
- CBUAE guidance on customer due diligence, source of funds and wealth
Regulations, fees, and eligibility can change. Every regulatory statement is re-checked before publication and dated above.
Legal notes and scope
Velarozone provides setup and operational-readiness coordination. This page is general information, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice.
General information drawn from the CBUAE Rulebook, including the Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation (C 15/2021), and Cabinet Resolution No. (134) of 2025 as published, not legal or tax advice. Rules and guidance change, so confirm the current text and each institution's own requirements before you submit.
Virtual assets are highly volatile and can lose all of their value; they are not suitable for every investor. Velarozone does not provide virtual-asset services, investment advice, custody or execution and never quotes a price. Execution is by a VARA-licensed broker-dealer under its own terms and client classification; the receiving bank decides on its own criteria. Marketing communications for this service are kept on record as the regulator requires.