Middle East Crypto Activity Triples to $350 Billion Amid Ongoing Conflict, Report Finds — SkimNews
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- Bitcoin Policy Institute estimated annual MENA blockchain transaction value hit about $350 billion by 2025–2026, more than triple the roughly $100 billion recorded in 2022.
- Bitcoin initially fell with global risk assets when Israel-Iran fighting broke out in June 2025, but investors later rotated from altcoins into BTC, pushing its market share to a one-month high of 64.8%, the report said.
- Researchers wrote that instead of exiting the region, capital shifted into digital assets during the Iran conflict, citing Bitcoin and dollar-pegged stablecoins as hedges against oil-price spikes, inflation and interest-rate pressure.
- Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and Iran saw currency depreciation drive adoption of Bitcoin and USD-pegged stablecoins to preserve purchasing power, the institute reported.
- Chainalysis tracked roughly $10.3 million leaving Iranian crypto exchanges between February 28 and March 2 following US-Israeli airstrikes, though it cautioned those transfers could include personal withdrawals or state-linked actors.
- UAE and Bahrain continued attracting institutional crypto capital through regulatory frameworks, and Kraken parent Payward said in May it received preliminary authorization from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority for broker-dealer and investment management activities.
Why it matters: Regional capital didn't flee the Middle East during the Iran conflict — it migrated into Bitcoin and dollar-pegged stablecoins, with BTC's market share hitting a one-month high of 64.8%. Regulated Gulf hubs like the UAE kept absorbing institutional flows via Dubai's VARA, widening the split between sanctioned/conflict economies and Gulf crypto centers.
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