Chainalysis, the blockchain data analytics platform, has released the results of the fourth chapter of the Geography of Crypto Report, dedicated to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The report provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of crypto markets and their use around the world. Specifically, the data reveals that MENA, with Dubai at its center, is now the sixth largest crypto economy among all regions surveyed this year.

Middle East and North Africa embrace crypto with Dubai experience

As anticipated, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region ranks sixth in economic size in the crypto world based on data collected between July 2022 and June 2023, with an estimated on-chain value of $389.8 billion. 

This figure constitutes about 7.2 percent of the global transaction volume during the period examined. In addition, MENA has three countries in the top 30 in this year’s index of crypto economies: Turkey in 12th place, Morocco in 20th and Iran in 28th. 

However, Turkey leads in raw transaction volume, as highlighted below.

Overall, transaction volumes in MENA follow a similar distribution to other regions, both in terms of transaction size and platform type.

However, significant variation emerges among countries within the region. Not surprisingly, several maps compare some of the major activities in MENA’s top crypto economies by platform type over the past year.

One notable finding concerns the United Arab Emirates, which stands out for the significant percentage of cryptocurrency-related activity occurring through DeFi protocols, with the exception of Israel, among neighboring countries in the region.