There has been a significant growth in crypto usage across the MENA region, ranging from institutional crypto usage in Dubai to remittance payments in Egypt, over the last year. Emerging markets continue to make their way into crypto, finding a multitude of uses cases, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Chainalysis has released a comprehensive report that shows the crypto market in MENA is one of the most rapidly growing regions in the world. The MENA region saw $566 billion in cryptocurrency transactions between July 2021 and June 2022. This is 48% higher than the previous year.
MENA is closely followed by Latin America, North America, and Asia with a growth rate of 40% and 36% respectively.
This region includes 22 countries, as well as emerging markets like Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco. These countries have a lot of use cases for cryptocurrencies, including savings preservation and remittance payment.
The use of cryptocurrency is widespread in countries like Turkey and Egypt, which have experienced major devaluations of local fiat currencies.
The report shows that Egypt’s tripling of transaction volumes was due to economic volatility. The country has seen a 221.7% increase in crypto transaction volumes year-over-year. Turkey is the region’s largest crypto market, receiving \$192 billion worth of crypto during the reporting period.
Although in a different capacity, the wealthier countries in the MENA region, such as the Gulf nation, the United Arab Emirates, home to the cryptocurrency haven of Dubai, have contributed to the local crypto scene.
The report shows that both Saudi Arabia and UAE were among the top five countries in the region for crypto value received.
Crypto can be seen in large institutions and not person-to-person payments such as remittances when it comes to the Gulf countries.
Major crypto companies such as Binance were approved to open operations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain.
Local partnerships with Binance Pay in UAE have allowed local entrepreneurs to start businesses using crypto.
