UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Irina Heaver and Zainab Kamran, NeosLegal
NeosLegal is the UAE’s first crypto-native law firm, advising founders, venture capital firms and institu- tions on digital assets since 2016. The firm has struc- tured over 300 blockchain and Web3 projects, issued more than 250 token legal opinions with a 100% Tier- 1 exchange acceptance rate, advised on 20+ VASP licence applications, and served 700+ crypto found- ers, with zero enforcement actions since 2016. Neos- Legal advises on VASP licensing across all five regu- lators (VARA and DIFC/DFSA in Dubai, ADGM/FSRA
in Abu Dhabi, the Central Bank of the UAE, and the federal CMA VASP licensing regime) and provides le- gal support for token launches, DAO and DeFi struc- turing, real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation and tax structuring. Clients include sovereign wealth funds, regulators, family offices and digital asset ventures across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Founded by Irina Heaver in 2016, NeosLegal is named Best UAE Crypto Law Firm 2026 by UAE Business Awards.
Authors
Irina Heaver is a UAE crypto lawyer and founder of NeosLegal, the UAE’s first crypto-native law firm, and author of The Founder’s Guide to the UAE Crypto Laws. She advises on VASP licensing across all five UAE regimes:
Zainab Kamran is an associate at NeosLegal, the UAE’s first crypto- native law firm, specialising in virtual assets regulation, and co-author of The Founder’s Guide to the UAE Crypto Laws. She advises VASPs,
VARA and DIFC/DFSA in Dubai, ADGM/FSRA in Abu Dhabi, the Central Bank of the UAE and the federal CMA regime. Since 2016, she has structured 300+ blockchain and Web3 projects and issued 250+ token legal opinions for exchanges, token issuers, DeFi platforms and RWA tokenisation ventures. She advises founders, VCs and institutions, and has drafted virtual asset laws for multiple governments and regulators.
Web3 start-ups, token issuers and exchanges on compliance, licensing and structuring across all five UAE regulators: VARA, ADGM/FSRA, DIFC/DFSA, CMA and the Central Bank of the UAE. Her work includes legal opinions on token classification, offshore structuring and UAE crypto marketing and promotions law. Zainab holds an LLM in International Business Law from King’s College London and a Master’s in International Competition and Trade Law from Boğaziçi University.
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