The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has, for the second consecutive year, been named the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s fastest-growing crypto economy. With a year-over-year growth rate of 154%, the kingdom, according to a Chainalysis report, surpassed the United Arab Emirates (UAE), widely considered the region’s leading crypto hub.

The report partially attributes the country’s rapid growth to its young population—about 63% of Saudi citizens are under 30 years old. According to the report, innovators and entrepreneurs driving some of the latest financial technology view this demographic as particularly important because “younger generations tend to be more open to experimenting with new financial technologies.”

The report notes that Saudi Arabia’s and Qatar’s crypto activity primarily stems from decentralized finance platforms. This is due to the lack of comprehensive regulatory frameworks for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in both countries, preventing centralized exchanges from operating there.

However, according to the Chainalysis report, Qatar has since made strides in regulation, as evidenced by the launch of its 2024 Digital Assets Regulations. The country’s officials believe these regulations will lay the “groundwork for the development of a thriving and innovative financial services sector that can leverage the opportunities offered by new technologies.”

Meanwhile, Chainalysis’ analysis of cryptocurrency value received by countries in the MENA region shows that institutional and professional activity primarily drives most crypto activity.

“The majority of crypto activity in MENA is driven by institutional and professional-level activity, with 93% of value transferred consisting of transactions of $10,000 or more,” the report stated.

The analysis also reveals that the MENA region’s $338.7 billion in on-chain value received between July 2023 and June 2024 represents only 7.5% of the global total. With $136.8 billion in value received during the same period, Turkey accounts for approximately 40% of the region’s volume. Saudi Arabia is a distant second with just under $50 billion in volume.