MKX

Buy crypto in the UAE with AED through a VARA-licensed broker-dealer

MKX is a Dubai broker-dealer licensed by VARA (reference VL/25/04/001) that converts AED to USDT, Bitcoin, Ether and other listed assets and pays AED back to a UAE bank account, for one published fee of 1.5% per trade.

Risk warning Virtual Assets may lose their value in full or in part, and are subject to extreme volatility. The owner and/or investor in the Virtual Asset can lose all the money or other value they invest, and does not benefit from any form of financial protection.

Create your MKX account See the fee schedule

From your bank to your wallet Illustrative example
  1. 1 Your UAE bank account AED 10,000.00 AED bank transfer, 0% deposit fee
  2. 2 MKX Client Money Account AED 10,000.00 Safekeeping account at a UAE-licensed institution
  3. 1.5% per trade AED 150.00
  4. 3 Your MKX wallet in USDT or BTC Quantity set by the price quoted on the trade screen
Illustrative example for an order of AED 10,000. Amounts are not a quote: the final price and the fee are shown on the trade screen before you confirm.

What MKX does in one screen

Three things you can do with AED

Each one is an order you confirm at a quoted price. The figures come from the MKX Fee Schedule.

  • Buy USDT with AED

    Once your account holds dirhams, you can buy USDT with AED by bank transfer. USDT can be withdrawn on five networks: ERC20, BEP20, TRC20, Polygon-POS and SOL.

    5 USDT external withdrawal fee, from 15 USDT

  • Sell USDT and withdraw AED to your bank

    You can send USDT to your MKX wallet, then sell USDT and withdraw AED to a UAE bank account. MKX charges no fee on the USDT deposit.

    AED 100 minimum AED withdrawal

  • Buy Bitcoin with AED

    You can also buy Bitcoin with AED from the same dirham balance, and send it to an external wallet from 0.003 BTC.

    0.0001 BTC external withdrawal fee

Ether and seven more assets are on the Fee Schedule: XRP, SOL, BNB, USDC, TRX, POL and ARB.

Assets and networks

MKX Fee Schedule

USDT
ERC20, BEP20, TRC20, Polygon-POS, SOL
BTC
Bitcoin
ETH
ERC20
USDC
ERC20, BEP20
XRP
XRP
SOL
Solana
BNB
BNB
TRX
TRC20
POL
Polygon POS
ARB
Arbitrum One

What it costs

MKX charges one trading fee: 1.5% of each transaction, whether you move from AED to crypto, from crypto to AED or between two assets. A bank deposit in AED costs 0% and starts at AED 380. A bank withdrawal in AED starts at AED 100 and carries a fee the Fee Schedule lists as 30.

The price shown before a trade is indicative. MKX does not publish its spread, so compare the quoted price with a market reference before you confirm. Crypto deposits carry no MKX fee, and each external crypto withdrawal has a flat fee per asset.

Every minimum and every withdrawal fee is in the full MKX fee schedule.

Fees at a glance

Last reviewed

AED bank deposit minimum AED 380
0%
AED bank withdrawal minimum AED 100
30
Crypto deposit all listed assets
0
Every trade AED to crypto, crypto to AED, crypto to crypto
1.5%

How an AED order works

  1. 1 Create and verify your account

    Register on the web or in the app, then verify your identity with an Emirates ID or passport and a liveness check. You must be at least 18.

  2. 2 Fund it in AED from a UAE bank account

    Send dirhams by bank transfer from a local UAE bank account. The minimum deposit is AED 380 and MKX charges 0% on it.

  3. 3 Buy, sell or convert at the quoted price

    Choose the asset and the amount. The first price you see is indicative, not a quotation. The final price and the 1.5% fee are displayed on the trade execution screen before you confirm.

What you need to start

Identity document
Emirates ID or passport
Identity check
ID upload and liveness check
Minimum age
18
Funding
AED bank transfer from a UAE bank account
First deposit
from AED 380

A broker-dealer, not an order-book exchange

People search for a crypto exchange in Dubai or the UAE, so the difference matters. VARA licenses Broker-Dealer Services and Exchange Services as separate activities, and the MKX entry on the VARA public register (reference VL/25/04/001) lists Broker-Dealer Services only.

In practice you trade with MKX at a price it quotes. MKX names Binance as its primary external liquidity provider and sets prices from market conditions and the liquidity available there. There is no order book, no derivatives and no earn product.

The guide that asks is cryptocurrency legal in Dubai lists the eight activities VARA licenses and shows how to check any firm on the register.

Trading at MKX in short

Price
Quoted by MKX before you confirm
Liquidity provider
Binance, named as primary
Order book
None
Derivatives
None
Earn products
None

How client assets are held

  • Crypto custody

    The MKX terms name the Wallet Custody Services Provider: Fireblocks.

  • Client money in AED

    Dirhams sit in a Client Money Account, held in a designated safekeeping account with a regulated financial institution licensed in the UAE. It is not a deposit or investment account and the funds earn no interest.

  • No deposit protection

    Clients' virtual assets and fiat are not covered by any deposit protection mechanism from MKX.

Source for all three: the MKX terms and conditions.

Before you fund an account

Two pages go further. One sets out how MKX holds client assets and the account controls the terms describe. The other is the risk disclosure statement, which lists the risks by type.

How MKX is regulated

MKX Virtual Assets Broker & Dealer Services L.L.C. is licensed by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) for Broker-Dealer Services, reference VL/25/04/001. The register shows a VASP Licence issued on 18 April 2025 with the status Active, and permits MKX to serve institutional, qualified and retail investors.

You can confirm each of these on the VARA public register entry for MKX. The licences page explains VARA licence VL/25/04/001 and how to verify it, and the About page describes the company behind MKX.

Licence record

Verified

Entity
MKX Virtual Assets Broker & Dealer Services L.L.C.
Regulator
VARA, Dubai
Reference
VL/25/04/001
Licence
VASP Licence for Broker-Dealer Services
Issued
18 April 2025
Status
Active

Apps, support and complaints

Answers to account, KYC and fee questions are on one page, and every official channel is listed where you contact MKX support.

Where to use MKX

iPhone
MKX on the App Store
Android
MKX on Google Play
Web
trading.mkx.ae

Start with a bank transfer from AED 380

Create an account, verify your identity and fund it from a UAE bank account. Virtual assets are volatile and you can lose all the money you invest.

Create your MKX account