Users from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region generate approximately 7.5% of the world’s total cryptocurrency transaction volume. Institutional investors and professional traders are the most active users of digital assets in this region.
According to a Chainalysis report, from July 2023 to June 2024, crypto users in the MENA conducted transactions worth $338.7 billion, representing about 7.5% of the global crypto transaction volume during this period.
The report highlights that around 93% of these transactions were valued at more than $10,000 each. Thus, the vast majority of transactions in the region were made by institutional investors and professional traders, with retail investors accounting for approximately 7% of the total transaction volume in MENA.
Chainalysis analysts identified several countries in the region that accounted for the majority of transactions, namely:
- Turkey — $137 billion;
- Saudi Arabia — $48 billion;
- UAE — $39 billion;
Centralized exchanges are the most popular for crypto transactions in the region. Qatar and Turkey lead in CEX usage, with 64.3% and 55.2% of local crypto transactions, respectively. In addition, analysts noted the growing interest in decentralized platforms among users from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with 32.4% and 30.9% of transactions, respectively.
As for the most popular assets in the MENA region, almost half of the transactions during the studied period were made in stablecoins — 44.7%. Stablecoins are most popular in Turkey (55.2%) and the UAE (51.3%). BTC accounted for about 22% of transactions over the year, while altcoins made up 24.6%. ETH was involved in only 8.3% of the total number of transactions in the region.
The cryptocurrency market in the MENA region is actively developing since 2022. One of the growth catalysts in 2024 was the UAE’s ambition to become a global cryptocurrency hub, especially through its progressive regulatory approach. Besides, growing interest from Turkish residents in using digital assets influenced the development of the regional crypto market.
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