UAE leads as Middle East embraces digital assets
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Homepage > News > Finance > UAE leads as Middle East embraces digital assets The United Arab Emirates recorded the highest growth in digital asset activity, leading the rise of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as a digital asset hub, a new report has revealed. The 2023 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report by Chainalysis disclosed that the UAE’s longstanding enabling digital asset regulations are bearing fruit. In the year ending June 2024, the country received $30 billion in digital assets, making it MENA’s third-largest digital asset destination after Turkey and Saudi Arabia. This equated to 42% growth, nearly four times higher than the region’s average of 11.7%. Unlike most of its neighbors, the UAE has recorded growth across all blockchain and digital asset sectors, including in decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized exchanges—the latter recorded an 87% rise in value received to hit $11.3 billion. The explosion was also across all transaction sizes, from retail users transferring less than $1,000 to professional users sending up to $1 million and institutions with up to $10 million per transaction. The surge in adoption has attracted global and regional venture capitalists (VCs), local banks and other financial industry players, noted Chainalysis’ Head of Policy of MENA, Arushi Goel. “Traditional financial institutions such as banks are actively exploring their roles within the crypto ecosystem, showcasing the growth of a crypto-TradFi nexus. This engagement is further supported by a robust and evolving regulatory framework,” she commented. UAE champions digital asset regulations The biggest tailwind for UAE’s digital asset sector is enabling regulations. Dubai, the country’s largest city, first launched a blockchain strategy in 2016, and two years later, Abu Dhabi established one of the world’s first digital asset regulatory frameworks. The Securities and Commodities Authority has since taken to regulating digital asset services while the central…
Filed under: News - @ October 8, 2024 9:17 am