The United Arab Emirates’ hubs of Abu Dhabi and Dubai had identical scores for crypto regulatory structure and crypto adoption, two of the most heavily weighted criteria in the ranking overall. But while the UAE’s regulatory structure is top tier – and accounts for 35% of its total score – its crypto adoption score (measuring 10%) was in the bottom quintile. Arguably, the low score is a reflection of the greater Emirati population, rather than the behavior of the residents of Abu Dhabi and Dubai themselves. In nearly every other criteria we measured, the capital of the UAE trailed Dubai by a hair, including quality of life, ease of doing business and digital infrastructure (all criteria in the enablers category) and per-capita crypto jobs, companies and events (which comprise the opportunities category).
A Wealthy Mideast Capital Creating a Bridge From TradFi to Crypto
