Here’s why crypto is moving to Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Anastasia Ulianova, founder and CEO of crypto ratings agency ARIA tells Magazine the UAE’s most populous city Dubai has developed the Goldilocks zone for crypto rules.

“Better than anyone else, they are finding the sweet spot for increased regulation without stifling innovation, like we’ve seen in many other places,” she says.

Crypto leaders such as Changpeng Zhao call Dubai home, and more than 65% of UAE residents hold cryptocurrency according to some surveys.

The numbers on the ground are surging. Capital city Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone ADGM reported a 67% increase in new licenses in Q1 2025 compared with Q1 2024. More than 1,800 crypto companies are now based in the UAE, employing more than 8,600 people. 

Dubai’s DMCC Free Zone alone hosts more than 600 Web3 companies, and DIFC, the Middle East’s answer to London’s Canary Wharf, is onboarding crypto projects at a growing rate.

Big names are setting up shop. BlackRock, Circle, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Rain, Zodia and Bybit are all either expanding or relocating to the Emirates, and Ripple recently launched blockchain cross-border payments there.

And it’s not just exchanges: tokenization projects, Web3 startups, DeFi platforms and infrastructure providers are arriving, drawn by capital and a pro-tech government.

How does a small federation of desert emirates — states — with a population smaller than New York’s end up competing and, in some cases, outpacing traditional powerhouses such as the US, UK and Switzerland?

The answer comes down to three things: clarity, capital and conviction.

“Dubai is the Mecca for crypto,” says Kumardev Chatterjee, founder of the Global Crypto Forum.

Abu Dhabi, the crypto regulation early bird

Back in 2018, when most regulators were still arguing over whether Bitcoin and Ethereum were securities, the ADGM dropped one of the world’s first comprehensive digital asset frameworks.

It covered everything from exchange licensing to tokenized assets to crypto custody under the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). That clarity opened the crypto floodgates.

“Having been a resident of Abu Dhabi for more than 17 years, I’ve seen firsthand how the UAE has transformed itself into a world-class crypto hub,” says Rachel Pether, head of MENA at digital asset investment manager 3iQ.

“It’s been successful from a top-down perspective via clear regulation from the FSRA and government funding initiatives, but also bottom-up with crypto companies setting up in Abu Dhabi.”

Dubai joins crypto game soon after

Not to be outdone, rival emirate Dubai — both are in the UAE, which is a collection of seven emirates — launched its own game-changing Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) in 2022, giving it the power to license and oversee the entire crypto value chain. 

Dubai’s Law No. 4 formally legalized VARA’s mandate, giving the crypto sector an actual legal home, not just regulatory tolerance.

While most jurisdictions suffer from agency turf wars, the UAE did something rare: it was coordinated. 

Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s regulators talk to each other. Add to that a federal layer now working on unified crypto rules, and you have a rare trifecta: legal clarity at the local, emirate and national level. 

Capital that actually shows up

Regulatory clarity is one thing, but crypto doesn’t grow in a vacuum. You need capital, infrastructure and institutional will. The UAE has all three.

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, is worth around $330 billion. Its tech-forward arm, MGX, has been making big plays in crypto and blockchain infrastructure for years.

In March 2025, MGX shocked the industry by dropping $2 billion into Binance, less than two years after most governments were trying to push the exchange out. It was a powerful signal that the UAE wasn’t just “crypto-friendly” but in it for the long haul.

“Abu Dhabi has cultivated a fertile ground for the crypto industry,” says Alex Chehade, who previously led the team to acquire Binance FZE’s VASP License from Dubai’s VARA.

“Anchored by the progressive regulatory framework of the ADGM and complemented by its reputation as a safe, highly livable city offering ease of scalability and workforce development, Abu Dhabi is a preeminent global crypto hub,” he adds.

UAE far from a “wait-and-see” jurisdiction

The UAE’s crypto push isn’t just about speculative finance. It’s part of a broader national vision for digital leadership.

Blockchain has been part of the UAE government’s strategy since at least 2016. Dubai’s Blockchain Strategy aimed to move all government records to the blockchain. The Emirates Blockchain Strategy followed, and now a full AI + Blockchain integration roadmap is underway via the AI 2031 initiative.

The Ministry of AI, the Dubai Future Foundation and the Emirates Development Bank are backing projects that cut across logistics, identity, land registries and payments.

As Cointelegraph reported in March, the White House’s crypto and AI czar, David Sacks, and other Trump administration officials met with UAE officials in Washington to discuss UAE’s potential plans to increase its investment in the United States.

This puts crypto in a unique position. It’s not depicted or treated as a disruptive sideshow; it’s a core layer of infrastructure being actively adopted and developed by the state.“If I had to phrase it in one sentence, I’d say that what makes Dubai a very interesting crypto hub is that it is not like many other ‘wait-and-see’ jurisdictions,” Anastasia Ulianova, founder and CEO of crypto ratings agency ARIA tells Magazine.

Then there’s the big names

Chatterjee, founder of the Global Crypto Forum, classifies Dubai as a global crypto hot spot.

“Added to that, the world’s first real estate tokenized title deed and impending launch of the world’s only Royal Token backed by sovereign assets, then Dubai stands out as a shining city on the crypto hill,” Chatterjee adds.

There’s also TOKEN2049 and events such as GITEX Global and the Future Blockchain Summit, which anchor the networking and deal-making side of things. Last year’s futuristic XPANSE conference in Abu Dhabi went into technology generally, but with blockchain at its core.

Throw in long-term visas for tech workers, global founders and the fact that developers and talent are moving in, and there are all the ingredients for a global tech hub that, as mentioned earlier, is more than a trifecta.

Singapore slow, Swiss Crypto Valley narrow

It’s not that other countries aren’t trying.

Singapore has been seen as the crown jewel of Asian crypto, and its still a strong contender. But in the wake of the Terra and FTX collapses, Singapore’s Monetary Authority has become more conservative and clamped down on licensing. It still offers regulatory clarity, but with growing limits and longer timelines. 

Many founders say it’s “safe, but slow.”

And Switzerland’s Crypto Valley in Zug may thrive, but with a dense population of 123,000 people and 2,000 of them people already working in crypto, its scale is limited. London remains a global financial center, but crypto is still finding its feet there as the government tries to focus its direction on the sector.

And then there’s the US, where the SEC has been hostile for years, and the results of the change of administration and SEC chair are yet to bear tangible fruit. This week’s markup hearings on market structure legislation are make-or-break.

Public adoption is strong. According to the Henley Crypto Adoption Index, the UAE is ranked third globally in individual crypto usage behind Singapore and Hong Kong. Locals are not just investing — they’re building.

UAE: Concerns over human rights and censorship

The UAE isn’t without risks, however. The legal system can be opaque for foreign entrepreneurs. Human rights issues and censorship concerns raise eyebrows. The headlines around detained crypto entrepreneurs, even if rare, make Western institutions cautious.

There’s also the issue of inter-emirate license portability. ADGM, DIFC and VARA each issue separate licenses. While cooperation is improving, seamless passporting remains a work in progress.

Stablecoin rules are now in place, and the next test will come with the rollout of its decentralized finance framework, which has a transition deadline of September 2026 for projects to become compliant.

Still, if the last five years are any indication, the Emirates will meet the challenge.

The UAE isn’t just creating a sandbox for crypto. It’s laying the foundation for a sovereign-scale, long-term digital asset economy — one that includes everything from trading and custody to tokenized real estate, AI governance and blockchain-backed government infrastructure.