With 24/7 trading and traditional markets closed, crypto markets provided a means to preserve wealth and transfer value amid disruption.

Dubai’s VARA and Abu Dhabi’s ADGM are highlighted as benchmark regulatory models for digital asset activity in the region.

The Middle East and North Africa crypto market is approaching $350 billion in annual transaction volume, driven by institutional activity, stablecoin use, and regulatory progress across the region.

Saudi Arabia posted the fastest growth in the region with year-over-year gains near 154% from 2023 to 2024, while Qatar grew about 120%, and Turkey remains the region’s largest economy by transaction value, approaching $200 billion annually.

Context: these figures come from Chainalysis measurements for July 2023–June 2024 and may not align with newer estimates; regional totals should not be treated as a single uniform market.

The news distribution is led by CryptoCurrencyWire, with broader reach through InvestorWire and related networks.

Bitcoin moved lower with risk assets after the June 2025 hostilities outbreak, but investors later rotated back, lifting its market share to a one-month high of 64.8%.

The Iran–Israel conflict tested Bitcoin’s safe-haven narrative, with initial volatility giving way to capital rotation as risk cooled and concerns about oil, inflation, and the Strait of Hormuz grew, underscoring crypto’s resilience.

Rising transaction volumes may attract greater regulatory scrutiny and spur clearer frameworks balancing innovation with consumer protection and AML measures.

The region accounted for about 7.5% of global crypto transaction volume in 2023–2024, around $338.7 billion on-chain, with caveats about differing measurement methods.

Iran-related crypto movement included roughly $10.3 million moving off Iranian exchanges between late February and early March, following U.S.–Israeli airstrikes.

Gulf markets continued drawing institutional capital and strengthening as digital-asset hubs even as sanctions and currency instability pushed others toward crypto as a hedge.