What happened
MENA crypto transaction volume reached about $350 billion over the trailing 12 months, CryptoBriefing reported Sunday, citing regional on-chain and exchange data. Saudi Arabia posted 154% year-on-year growth, the fastest in the region and enough to push the kingdom into the top tier of MENA crypto markets alongside the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. The report attributes the acceleration to a mix of licensed exchange activity, cross-border remittance flows routed through stablecoins, and rising institutional participation from local family offices and asset managers.
Retail speculation, historically the driver of MENA crypto activity, took a back seat. The $350 billion figure sits well above the region's totals from prior Chainalysis geography reports, which put MENA closer to $390 billion in mid-2024 before a broad market cooldown trimmed regional flows. This year's rebound was uneven.
Saudi Arabia's 154% jump contrasts with slower prints elsewhere, though the UAE remains the largest single contributor by absolute volume, aided by Dubai's VARA regime and Abu Dhabi Global Market's licensed venues.
Why it matters
MENA has spent three years transitioning from a grey-market region to one of the more formally regulated crypto zones globally, and this data point is the clearest read yet on whether that shift is compounding. Saudi Arabia's growth rate matters because the kingdom has been the quietest of the Gulf jurisdictions on crypto policy. The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has run pilot work on wholesale CBDC infrastructure with the BIS Innovation Hub, but a public retail crypto licensing regime remains absent.
A 154% volume jump without that formal framework suggests activity is flowing through offshore venues serving Saudi users, licensed UAE counterparties, and OTC desks handling institutional books. That has policy implications. If the pace holds, SAMA and the Capital Market Authority face pressure to publish a licensing track before the offshore share entrenches.