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The UAE’s crypto economy expanded by 32% to $104.8 billion (Dh384.6 billion) in the 12 months ending June 2026, Chainalysis said, a rise that puts the country on track to potentially overtake Türkiye as the Middle East and North Africa’s largest market in the 2027 reporting period.

The blockchain analytics firm’s report covers activity from July 2025 through June 2026. It estimated the UAE market at roughly 73% of Türkiye’s crypto economy, which remains the region’s largest. Chainalysis said the two countries, which together account for 56% of Mena’s total crypto economy, moved in opposite directions during the period and largely offset one another’s effect on the regional total.

Across Mena, the crypto economy was broadly unchanged at $443.3 billion, compared with $449.6 billion a year earlier. That represented a 1.4% decline, broadly in line with the global downturn. Excluding the UAE, however, the region’s crypto economy contracted by 8.6%.

Sixteen of the 24 Mena markets for which Chainalysis had measurable data recorded growth. The firm said the 2026 bear market cut global cryptocurrency market capitalisation in half, but had a limited effect on on-chain economic activity. In Mena, it said, market conditions were also shaped by regional disruption, particularly the Iran conflict that began on February 28, 2026.

Institutional platforms fuel UAE expansion

Most of the UAE’s increase came from its $102.3 billion crypto services sector, which rose 29%, according to Chainalysis. Inflows to centralised exchanges climbed 22% to $55 billion, while institutional platforms, including custodians and market-makers, rose 75% to $11.7 billion.

Decentralised finance exchanges also handled more than $31 billion in inflows, a 31% increase over the reporting period, the report said.

“Outside of the US, Mena and in particular the UAE has become the main hub for crypto firms’ global operations,” Henri Arslanian, co-founder of Nine Blocks Capital Management, was quoted as saying in the Chainalysis report. Nine Blocks Capital Management is described as the first crypto hedge fund licensed by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or VARA.

Arslanian attributed part of the UAE’s appeal to regulators’ willingness to issue licences, saying this had reduced the “career risk” for corporate executives involved in digital assets.

Binance breach adds to market backdrop

The report was released as Binance, described as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, dealt with a security breach estimated to have had a $6.3 billion impact, making it the largest crypto heist ever according to the supplied report.

Binance said it had worked with partners to freeze affected assets and had located about $3 billion. The company did not provide an update on the remaining $3.3 billion. Binance co-founder Yi He said the exchange would cover “all hacking losses”.