When taking part in the 2024 Web Summit, I pondered upon Qatar’s stance on emerging tech. It gathered such a diverse audience of the industry’s leading professionals, government officials, investors, and promising entrepreneurs – all under a roof.
With tech going global, the Middle East has become one of the world’s centres for cutting-edge innovation and this is now accelerating mass adoption in the region.
The current state of MENA’s Web3
Part of this radical shift can be attributed to crypto. The UAE, for instance, became one of the first countries to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework. Unsurprisingly, the country saw a 400 percent increase in registered crypto businesses from 2020 to 2022 and as much as 10 percent of the global transaction volume.
The Emirates’ neighbours, however, prefer different approaches. Oman made a large-scale bet on mining infrastructure to join the region’s struggle over the crypto market share. Currently having over $1.1 billion invested in Bitcoin farms, the country pushes the MENA’s forecasted share in overall global mining to over 15 percent.
Some places like Saudi Arabia, adhere to the UAE’s dogma of exploring favourable policies. With large-scale governmental investment, and the expansion of its free economic zones to foster the growth of local startups it is attracting more international businesses. While some regions like Qatar remain more cautious regarding crypto adoption and are closely following its trail.
On the one hand, cryptocurrency transactions and investments in the country have been prohibited by the Qatar Financial Centre since 2020, so the level of crypto penetration remains relatively low. On the other hand, the Oman government issued a public consultation regarding the potential legislative framework for tokenized digital assets, and the governor of Qatar Central Bank has stated that the regulator is extensively studying CBDCs.
The country returned to the industry’s highlights when it discussed crypto adoption process with El Salvador in September 2021 right when Salvador became the world’s first nation to make crypto legal tender. Further rumors of Qatar making a massive $50 billion Bitcoin investment by adding crypto to their balance sheet has been ongoing recently.
Finally, Qatar hosted the Web Summit — an event that attracted many crypto players and investors in the industry. Despite all the above, Qatar’s strategy has not shown any formative proof or tangible changes so far, so the future of crypto adoption remains uncertain yet hopeful.
The positive sentiment brings further adoption
However, the region overall shares a highly positive attitude regarding crypto’s future. The SEC’s approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs increased attention to crypto exposure from traditional global financial institutions, and the future BTC halving, scheduled for April, continues to serve as a major bull driver for Bitcoin.
Bitget survey of a cross-regional crypto investors sample revealed that over 80 percent of MENA investors consider the halving to have a significant price impact, while the recent Bitcoin’s bull run to renew its all-time high value was anticipated by 88 percent of investors — more than in any other region.
This extreme optimism is most pronounced in comparison to the survey’s other participants, as MENA investors were the most willing to increase their crypto holdings, with 82 percent reporting affirmatively. In contrast, the global average didn’t exceed 70 percent. Only four percent of the regional investors support the opposite bearish sentiment.
The future of regional blockchain
With the gradual solidification of the industry’s regulatory framework, the establishment of long-term founders-investor relationships, infrastructure investments, and extremely favorable consumer sentiment, the future of blockchain in MENA is highly optimistic.
Rising levels of blockchain penetration, crypto-centered financial literacy programs, and infrastructure investments in mining farms are fueling MENA’s steadily growing global role in Web3. From transaction volume to mining share, the region’s importance in the industry continues to increase.
Bitget recognises the significant role MENA will play in crypto’s adoption. Following our commitment to improving blockchain’s global accessibility, we are planning to scale our Middle East team and open new back- and mid-office vacancies for professionals across the region. Additionally, we are developing multiple regional licensing applications to meet a reinforced demand for online trading platforms in MENA.
Follow us on
