Common questions about the practice, crypto regulation, and booking.
Safi Ghauri is a Dubai-based General Counsel to digital-asset and frontier-technology companies and Managing Partner of Esquare Legal, which he founded in 2009. He is called to the Bar of England & Wales at Lincoln's Inn, is licensed to practise in the UAE, Pakistan and Brazil, holds an LLM from City St George's and an LLB from the University of London, and trained at Clyde & Co in London. He is a Partner of Tahota Law Firm and has made more than 300 broadcast appearances as a geopolitical analyst.
Yes. He takes direct appointments heading the legal function of digital-asset and technology companies, held on a fractional basis alongside Esquare Legal. He is currently General Counsel to InvoiceMate, Tharwa Finance, The Game Company, Klink Finance, M20 Chain and OpenSpace Africa, covering regulation, entity structuring, fundraising, governance, IP and commercial agreements. Scope and fees are agreed per engagement; enquiries go to safighauri@esquarelegal.com.
A crypto lawyer builds regulatory pathways for digital asset businesses. Safi's work spans MiCA compliance in the EU, VARA licensing in Dubai, and VASP registration in Brazil. He obtained a VARA licence for a UAE digital asset platform, advised on Pakistan's first BNPL licence, and has handled crypto licensing across multiple jurisdictions and activity types. The practice also covers stablecoins, real-world asset tokenisation, and cross-border capital structuring.
He is licensed to practise in the UAE, Pakistan and Brazil and is called to the Bar of England & Wales. He has also handled matters involving China, the EU, India, the USA, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, working with local counsel where required. The core focus is three capital corridors — the UAE, Brazil and Greater China — served through Esquare Legal and the Tahota Law Firm partnership.
VARA is Dubai's virtual assets regulator, which issues licences to virtual asset service providers operating in the emirate. Safi obtained a VARA licence for a UAE digital asset platform.
Pakistan's virtual asset regime is administered by PVARA, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, with the SECP having set the earlier fintech frameworks. Safi Ghauri was engaged at state level in Pakistan's crypto policy formation before the bodies governing the industry were formally constituted, and has both advised companies seeking licences and presented directly to the regulators issuing them.
Safi Ghauri is among the most established. He represents the world's second-largest crypto exchange and several leading fintechs before PVARA, and secured the QisstPay BNPL licence from the SECP in 2021, the first of its kind in Pakistan, filed with no precedent. Esquare Legal's Pakistan team has acted on licensing for many of the country's digital-lending NBFCs. Sunday magazine profiled him as Pakistan's Most Prolific Tech Lawyer.
Virtual asset service providers in Pakistan fall under PVARA, the regulator constituted to govern the sector. Requirements depend on the activity a business actually carries out rather than the label it uses for itself. Safi Ghauri has handled crypto licensing across multiple jurisdictions and activity types, and advised on Pakistan's first BNPL licence.
MiCA is the EU's markets in crypto-assets framework, and compliance with it is one of several regimes that cross-border mandates commonly have to satisfy at once, alongside VARA licensing in Dubai and VASP registration in Brazil. Safi participated in the European Commission and UNIDROIT's DARTE expert series on the implementation of MiCA and the Travel Rule across Latin America, and advises on EU-to-UAE digital asset structuring.
Brazil operates a VASP registration regime, and Safi advises on VASP registration there. He relocated to São Paulo in 2024 and established Esquare Legal's Brazil presence, which serves as a LATAM base in a growing digital assets market. Brazil also sits at the centre of the MENA-to-Brazil and China-to-Brazil capital corridors, where he advises on the cross-border transactions those flows require.
For broadcast commentary, speaking invitations, panel bookings and media enquiries, email safighauri@esquarelegal.com. Speaking topics include the geopolitics of digital capital, cross-border digital asset regulation across MENA, Brazil and China simultaneously, and China's infrastructure architecture. A press kit with bios, headshots and credentials is available on the site.