Institutional investments accounted for 67% of the United Arab Emirates’ total crypto transactions between July 2022 and June 2023, data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis shows.

The Middle East and North Africa findings of Chainalysis’ “Geography of Cryptocurrency Report” revealed that institutional investments reached more than $1 million. This number is followed by $10,000 to $1 million in transactions from professional investors and up to $10,000 from retail investors.

“The fact that by far the larger portion of crypto investments in the UAE is for institutional and professional-sized transactions indicates an eagerness from organizations and high-net-worth individuals to add cryptocurrency to their investment portfolios. This market confidence is a validation of the efforts being made by the country’s leadership to offer commendable regulatory clarity and establish the nation as a global crypto hub,” said Kim Grauer, director of research at Chainalysis.

However, the UAE only received nearly $34.9 billion in crypto value, down 17% from the previous year. Despite this, the report noted that the country’s crypto market fared better compared to other nations, such as Qatar, which saw a 26% decline, Oman (-49%), Jordan (-55%) and Lebanon (-96%).

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia experienced a 12% year-over-year increase in crypto transaction volume, surpassing that of any other country in the past year. Despite the absence of clear rules on cryptocurrency, the largest economy in the Arab world was one of six countries to see any year-over-year growth in transaction volume between July 2022 and June 2023.

In last year’s Chainalysis crypto adoption index, the crypto market in the MENA region was named the fastest-growing in the world. Between July 2021 and June 2022, transaction volume received in the region reached $566 billion in cryptocurrency.