Telegram Ads in the UAE & Dubai — Gold Signal Ads, Measured CPMs, VARA Marketing Rules (2026)

TL;DR

The UAE is open for Telegram Ads: it is one of the 229 country options in the ad form, on Euro and TON accounts alike.

• Measured on our accounts: €1.42 per thousand impressions on Euro accounts (295k impressions, 8 accounts) and 3.79 TON on TON accounts (2.7M impressions, 10 accounts, 22 Aug–3 Oct 2026).
• No sourced count of Telegram users in the UAE exists. What can be sourced: 11.4 million residents, 11.3 million internet users and a median age of 31.6 (DataReportal, Digital 2026: United Arab Emirates).
• Two languages, Arabic and English. Run them as separate campaigns.
• The compliance anchor for crypto: the VARA Marketing Regulations, in force since 1 October 2024.

What runs without a licence question: SaaS, e-commerce, education, B2B, travel, consumer goods and services, non-financial Telegram Mini Apps.

What needs a UAE licence or a decision to stay out: virtual assets (VARA in Dubai), securities, investment and forex (the Capital Market Authority), payment services (the Central Bank), commercial gaming (GCGRA). Complying with UAE law is the advertiser’s responsibility; this guide maps the rules and links the sources, and it is not legal advice.

VARA Marketing Regulations — the decisive rule

Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) issued the Regulations on the Marketing of Virtual Assets and Related Activities 2024, in force since 1 October 2024. In VARA’s words they “apply to all Marketing of or relating to Virtual Assets or VA Activities in or targeting the UAE”, and to “all Entities, including domestic and/or foreign Entities, and whether they are authorised and Licensed by VARA to carry out VA Activities or not” (VARA rulebook). Marketing is defined broadly: advertisements, social media posts, sponsored content, airdrops and even educational material.

What the regulations require (general prohibitions, requirements for marketing):

• Who may market a service. A virtual-asset activity — an exchange, a broker, custody — may be marketed in or to the UAE only by a provider VARA has licensed for that activity, or on its behalf and with its approval. An unlicensed firm cannot fix this with a disclosure line.
• Fair, clear and not misleading, and clearly identifiable as marketing.
• No guarantees, no urgency. Marketing must not “state or imply that investments are safe, low risk or that returns are guaranteed”, and must not create a fear of missing out.
• A token ad carries a disclaimer and no call to buy. Marketing of a virtual asset itself must include a prominent disclaimer that virtual assets may lose their value in full or in part and are subject to extreme volatility, and must not include a call to buy.
• Privacy coins are out. Marketing of anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies is prohibited.
• The exit. A firm that is not located in Dubai, conducts no virtual-asset activity there and does no marketing in or targeting the UAE is outside the regulations. For an unlicensed firm that is the only clean route: leave the UAE out of the country list.

Penalty: Schedule 1 sets fines of up to AED 10,000,000 per violation for the main breaches, doubled for a repeat within a year.

VARA is not the only regulator an advertiser can meet:

• Federal securities law. Since 1 January 2026 the Capital Market Authority (CMA) is the federal regulator — the former Securities and Commodities Authority, reconstituted by Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2025. The Capital Markets Law that came with it (No. 33 of 2025) treats virtual assets as a financial product and applies to anyone targeting clients in the UAE with regulated activities, even from abroad or from a financial free zone (Cleary Gottlieb, 2026).
• Payments. Federal Decree-Law No. 6 of 2025, in force since 16 September 2025, puts payment services that use virtual assets under the Central Bank of the UAE and sets a fine of not less than AED 1 million for promoting a licensed financial activity without a licence (CMS, October 2025).
• Free zones. VARA’s remit excludes the Dubai International Financial Centre, where the DFSA runs its own crypto-token regime, amended with effect from 12 January 2026 (Library of Congress, March 2026).

Which of these applies to your offer is a question for UAE counsel, not for an ad platform.

Audience reality

Telegram does not publish user numbers by country, and the estimates that circulate for the UAE come from sites we could not trace to a primary source, so we quote none. What can be sourced, all from DataReportal’s Digital 2026 report (data for late 2025):

• A small country that is fully online. 11.4 million residents and 11.3 million internet users — 99% of the population.
• Working-age and mostly male. Median age 31.6; 63.7% of residents are male and 36.3% female; 88.3% live in urban centres.
• Two languages. Telegram’s ad guidelines say the language of the targeted channel should match the language of the ad and of the destination: English creative for English-language channels, Arabic creative for Arabic ones. We publish no split of who reads which; run both as separate campaigns and let your own numbers decide.

We publish no income, device or interest breakdown for the UAE audience: none of it is measured.

What a thousand impressions costs — measured

Our own accounts, campaigns targeted at the UAE only, all niches blended, as of 3 October 2026. Euro accounts are billed in euros and TON accounts in TON; the two are never converted into each other.

Account type	CPM	CTR	Cost per click	Impressions	Accounts
Euro (EUR)	€1.42	1.36%	€0.104	295k	8
TON (in TON, 22 Aug–3 Oct 2026)	3.79 TON	2.65%	0.143 TON	2.7M	10

The same UAE-only campaigns by niche, as of 3 October 2026:

Niche	CPM	CTR	Cost per click	Impressions	Accounts
Euro: other niches	€1.39	1.96%	€0.071	160k	4
Euro: trading, forex and gold	€1.40	0.66%	€0.212	129k	4
TON: trading, forex and gold	3.84 TON	2.61%	0.147 TON	2.66M	7
TON: other niches	0.17 TON	2.77%	0.006 TON	23k	2
TON: crypto	1.29 TON	6.75%	0.019 TON	22k	2

On TON accounts the UAE is a trading market almost entirely: 98% of the impressions are gold and forex ads, and they set the 3.84 TON price. Country-by-country tables for both account types are in the CPM by country guide.

What advertisers run in the UAE right now — gold signals and trading

The table above is a snapshot of our own accounts. This is the wider view: campaigns run by advertisers in Adsly Pro Panel, our own accounts excluded, over 90 days to 13 October 2026. TON accounts could be targeted by country only from 22 August 2026, so the trend starts there. Prices are in TON, Telegram’s currency.

Campaigns (TON accounts)	Impressions	CPM	CTR	Month to 13 Sep → month to 13 Oct
UAE only, all niches	2.92M	3.85 TON	2.55%	0.09M → 2.84M
Every campaign that includes the UAE	7.15M	1.87 TON	1.81%	0.91M → 6.24M
… trading, gold and forex signal ads	5.39M	2.28 TON	1.79%	0.22M → 5.17M
Every campaign that includes a Gulf country	17.2M	1.55 TON	1.53%	1.68M → 15.5M
… trading, gold and forex signal ads	14.0M	1.74 TON	1.52%	0.80M → 13.25M

The UAE is the dearest Gulf market in our panel: UAE-only campaigns cost 3.85 TON per thousand impressions, and trading ads that include it 2.28 TON per thousand impressions, against 1.74 TON for the Gulf as a whole and 0.93 TON for campaigns that include Kuwait. That is the price of reaching traders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi — and it still clicks at 1.79%.

What runs, by volume:

1. Gold (XAUUSD) signal and scalping channels in English — free signals, five-minute-chart scalping, Gulf-styled channel names. Most of the volume.
2. Live trading sessions — free sessions on weekdays, traded live.
3. Arabic trading courses — bots that teach trading step by step, run across the Gulf.
4. Demo trading robots, and Russian-language trading offers aimed at the Russian-speaking community in Dubai.
5. Business services — Telegram Ads agencies and marketing teams pitching UAE business owners.

Three languages share the budget: English carries most of the trading volume, Arabic the courses, Russian a small slice.

Demand is rising on the reader side too. Google searches for “forex” in the UAE averaged 58 on Google’s index in the eight weeks to 11 October 2026, against 28 before May — roughly double (Google Trends, retrieved 14 October 2026). And what people in the UAE type after “gold signals” is “telegram”, “telegram channel”, “telegram group link”. On the advertiser side, Google suggests “telegram ads price”, “telegram ads minimum budget” and, in Arabic, “اسعار اعلانات تليجرام” (Telegram ad prices) and “منصة اعلانات تليجرام” (Telegram ads platform).

Almost all of this volume runs on TON accounts, which can only link to Telegram. A Euro account adds websites — a broker, a prop-firm challenge, a course page — and our direct line to Telegram moderation.

Where to start:

• Gold, forex and signal channels — the Euro account for forex or the signal-channel version: €500 + 30% commission, 48 hours after payment, no KYC.
• Real estate, fintech, SaaS, anything else — price your Euro account.
• Casino and betting — Telegram’s guidelines prohibit gambling ads (§5.6), and in the UAE Google Ads accepts online gambling ads only from GCGRA-licensed operators (Google Ads policy). With us gambling runs in two formats only, on the gambling account page.

Ad copy examples

These show tone, not legal clearance: whether a text complies depends on your licence and on the rules above.

VARA-licensed crypto exchange:

{Brand} — VARA-licensed virtual-asset service provider. Trade BTC, ETH and more in Dubai. Virtual assets carry risk; no guaranteed returns. License #{VARA ref}.

Real estate (Dubai property):

{Project}, {area} Dubai. From AED {price}. Verified developer. Payment plans available. {Handover date}.

Fintech:

{Brand}: licensed UAE fintech. Send and spend across {N} currencies. Regulated by {CBUAE / ADGM / DIFC}.

What the rules above exclude:

• “Guaranteed crypto returns” and “risk-free investment”. VARA bans both, and Telegram’s guidelines (§5.7) list “offers of investment with guaranteed return” among prohibited financial content.
• A virtual-asset service marketed to the UAE with no VARA-licensed provider behind it.
• A call to buy a token, or a token ad without the volatility disclaimer.
• Urgency and fear-of-missing-out copy.

Adsly setup for the UAE

1. Pick a Euro account. It can link to a website as well as to a channel, bot or Mini App, reach Russia and Ukraine, and have a declined ad escalated to a human through our direct line to Telegram moderation. A TON account links to Telegram destinations only: channels, bots and Mini Apps. Both use the same targeting form since 22 August 2026, and the UAE is open on both: the only countries where TON-funded ads are not served are Russia and Ukraine.
2. Opening. A Euro account opens in 48 hours as a World account: its campaigns can target the UAE or any other available country. Minimum ad budget: €500 — crypto, stocks and investing included. Payment in any cryptocurrency, no KYC. Price your Euro account →
3. Targeting. Country: United Arab Emirates. Language: English and Arabic as separate campaigns. Then topics or the channels your customers already follow. The form also has a Locations field that searches locations inside the selected country; which ones it offers for the UAE is visible in the account, and we have not measured city-level campaigns.
4. Frequency. Views per User: start at 1–2 (the form allows 1 to 4).
5. Timing. We have no hour-of-day data for the UAE, so we publish no “best hours”. Read the hourly analytics of your own campaigns.
6. Access and moderation. You get the account itself on ads.telegram.org and the Adsly Pro Panel on app.adsly.pro. Over 98% of the 13,199 campaigns we measured in September 2026 had a moderation decision within three hours.
7. Crypto and finance. Settle the licence question before you write the creative: the VARA rules apply whether or not you hold a licence.

Where the legal line runs

Adsly opens the account and gives you the tools. We do not verify licences, and opening an account does not approve any ad. What may be advertised to people in the UAE is decided by UAE law and by Telegram’s moderation, and that responsibility stays with the advertiser:

• Crypto. The VARA Marketing Regulations above bind licensed and unlicensed firms alike. Whether your offer may be marketed to the UAE is your question to answer, with UAE counsel if it is anywhere near the line.
• Securities, investment and forex. The Capital Market Authority’s perimeter reaches firms that target UAE clients from abroad.
• Guaranteed returns. Out under VARA’s rules and under Telegram’s guidelines (§5.7).
• Gambling. Telegram’s ad guidelines prohibit gambling ads: §5.6 says ads must not promote “online or offline gambling, gaming, or casino-based activities involving real money, prizes, or goods of any value” (guidelines). With us gambling runs in two formats only — an official gambling account, ad budget from €25,000 + 25% commission, or a full launch on our infrastructure, ad budget from €5,000 + 30% commission — described in the gambling policy guide. Neither changes UAE law: the federal regulator states that “engaging in, conducting or facilitating commercial gaming within the UAE without a license from the GCGRA is illegal” (GCGRA).
• Pharma and CBD. We do not take them, in any country.
• Everything else — SaaS, B2B, e-commerce, education, non-financial consumer offers — runs with the UAE as the target and no licence layer.

FAQ

Is Telegram Ads available in the UAE in 2026?

Yes. The UAE is a country option on both account types, and our accounts delivered 295k impressions there on Euro accounts and 2.7M on TON accounts. TON-funded ads are not served in Russia or Ukraine; the UAE is not on that list.

How many Telegram users are in the UAE?

There is no reliable public figure, and we do not repeat estimates we could not trace to a primary source. What is documented: 11.4 million residents, 11.3 million internet users and a median age of 31.6 (DataReportal, Digital 2026).

What are the VARA Marketing Regulations?

Dubai’s rules for marketing virtual assets, in force since 1 October 2024. They cover all marketing of virtual assets or virtual-asset services in or targeting the UAE, require it to be fair, clear and not misleading, ban guarantees of return and urgency tactics, and set fines of up to AED 10 million per violation.

Do VARA rules apply if I’m not VARA-licensed?

Yes — the regulations say they apply to all entities, licensed or not. And they go further than a disclosure: a virtual-asset service may be marketed in or to the UAE only by a VARA-licensed provider or on its behalf. An unlicensed firm’s clean route is not to target the UAE.

Are UAE CPMs the highest globally?

On our TON accounts the UAE is near the top: 3.79 TON per thousand impressions, second only to Vietnam (4.09 TON) among the countries we have measured. On our Euro accounts it is not: €1.42, below Brazil (€2.22), Russia (€2.68) and Turkey (€2.92). So the answer depends on the account type. Compare markets inside one currency.

Should I run Arabic or English?

Both, as separate campaigns. Telegram expects the ad language to match the channel language. We publish no share of who prefers which language; your own numbers will tell you.

What about real estate?

We publish no separate price for real-estate campaigns; the measured UAE level above, all niches blended, is the reference. Property advertising in the UAE has its own permit rules — check them with a local broker or counsel before launch.

Can I run gambling?

Telegram’s guidelines (§5.6) prohibit gambling ads. With us gambling runs only as an official gambling account (ad budget from €25,000 + 25% commission) or as a full launch on our infrastructure (ad budget from €5,000 + 30% commission) — see the gambling policy guide. UAE law is a separate question: commercial gaming there is legal only under a GCGRA licence.

Does Adsly help with VARA licensing?

No. Licensing is a matter for UAE counsel, and we do not verify licences either. We open the account in 48 hours and give you access to the account on ads.telegram.org and to Pro Panel. Talk to us at @adsly_pro.

How much do gold signal ads cost in the UAE?

In our panel, 15 July – 13 October 2026, trading, gold and forex signal ads in campaigns that include the UAE cost 2.28 TON per thousand impressions at a 1.79% CTR (5.39M impressions). Across all niches, campaigns that include the UAE averaged 1.87 TON. The account itself costs €500 of ad budget + 30% commission through Adsly.

How do I promote a gold signals Telegram channel in Dubai?

Open a Euro account (48 hours, no KYC, any cryptocurrency), target the UAE — alone or with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar — and run English and Arabic as separate campaigns on channels in the same language. Show the method, not the profit: Telegram’s guidelines prohibit guaranteed returns and “insider tips” (§5.7). A declined ad on a Euro account goes to Telegram moderation through our direct line.

Is forex demand growing in the UAE?

Yes. Google searches for “forex” in the UAE roughly doubled — an index average of 58 in the eight weeks to 11 October 2026 against 28 before May — and trading-ad impressions that include the UAE in our panel grew from 0.22M to 5.17M a month.

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The UAE is one of the most expensive rows in our TON table and an ordinary one in euros. What sets it apart is the rulebook: VARA’s Marketing Regulations decide who may market a crypto service at all, the Capital Market Authority and the Central Bank cover the rest of finance, and gaming needs a GCGRA licence. Get the licence question answered first, run English and Arabic as separate campaigns, and read your own numbers.