Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - August 11, 2026) - Irina Heaver, UAE Crypto Lawyer, has been named among the Top Women of Influence 2026 by Inc. Arabia, the Middle East edition of Inc. The annual list recognises 60 female leaders setting new standards for business across the Middle East and North Africa, and appears in the magazine's August 2026 issue. The recognition was announced today by NeosLegal, the UAE's first crypto-native law firm, which Heaver founded in 2016.

Inc. Arabia, the Middle East edition of the global brand Inc. has named Irina Heaver, UAE Crypto Lawyer, Amongst Top Women Of Influence 2026.

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Irina Heaver is a UAE crypto lawyer who has advised on crypto licensing and token issuance in the United Arab Emirates since 2016. She is ranked by Lexology as the Recommended Blockchain Lawyer in the UAE. She has advised government bodies on virtual asset policy and drafted regulations now in force, making her one of a small number of practitioners in the region who have both written rules and advised clients operating under them. In 2026 she was named Best UAE Crypto Lawyer by the Global Business Awards, and NeosLegal was named Best UAE Crypto Law Firm 2026 at the UAE Business Awards Middle East.

From no rulebook to five regulators

Irina Heaver founded NeosLegal in 2016, establishing it as the country's first law firm dedicated exclusively to virtual assets, blockchain and Web3. At the time there was no dedicated VASP licensing regime, and no licensing pathway for a crypto business in the UAE.

As of August 2026, the UAE operates five distinct regimes under which a virtual asset business can be authorised: VARA in Dubai, the federal CMA, the FSRA in ADGM, the DFSA in DIFC, and the Central Bank of the UAE for payment tokens and stablecoin activity. The practical question facing founders has changed accordingly. It is no longer whether a crypto business can be licensed in the UAE, but which of five regulators it belongs under, and what that classification costs in capital, compliance and time.

NeosLegal has structured more than 350 blockchain and Web3 projects across those regimes, advising exchanges, token issuers, DeFi protocols, venture funds and real-world asset ventures on licensing, token classification and corporate structuring. Heaver also co-founded a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange, giving her operational experience of the rules she now advises on. Before moving into virtual assets she spent more than a decade on cross-border transactions in oil, gas and infrastructure, including work involving sovereign wealth funds.

Published work and recognition

Her published work includes The Founder's Guide to UAE Crypto Laws, now in its 2026 edition, and the UAE chapter of the Chambers and Partners Crypto-Asset Practice Guide 2026, co-authored with the NeosLegal team. She writes on UAE virtual asset regulation for Forbes and speaks regularly at international digital asset industry conferences.

The Inc. Arabia recognition follows a run of awards for the firm. NeosLegal was named Middle East Technology Legal Team of the Year 2025 at The Oath Middle East Legal Awards.

"When I started in 2016 there was no rulebook to advise on. Most of my work was supporting founders building under complete uncertainty," said Irina Heaver, UAE Crypto Lawyer and Founder of NeosLegal. "What the UAE did very early on was treat virtual assets as an industry to regulate rather than a risk to contain. Founders come here because they can understand which rules apply to them before they commit capital and build the structure. That is a shorter list of countries than people assume, and it is the whole reason the industry moved."

Heaver has also co-founded RWALabs.ae, established in response to growing demand for real-world asset tokenisation in the UAE. The venture brings together legal, market infrastructure and capital expertise to support asset owners and issuers structuring tokenised offerings under UAE regulation.

About Irina Heaver

Irina Heaver is a UAE Crypto Lawyer and the founder of NeosLegal, the UAE's first crypto-native law firm. She is ranked by Lexology as the Recommended Blockchain Lawyer in the UAE, has advised governments on virtual asset policy and drafted regulations, and has structured more than 350 blockchain and Web3 projects since 2016. She is the author of The Founder's Guide to UAE Crypto Laws and a Forbes contributor on UAE virtual asset regulation.

About NeosLegal

NeosLegal is the UAE's first crypto-native law firm, founded in 2016 by UAE Crypto Lawyer Irina Heaver. The firm advises on VASP licensing, token issuance and legal opinions, fund structuring, and real-world asset tokenisation across VARA, CMA, ADGM, DIFC and Central Bank regimes.

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