Türkiye’s tokenised gold activity grew from zero to nearly US$1B as a cash ban on physical gold pushed consumers onto blockchain rails.
According to Chainalysis’ Middle East and North Africa chapter of its 2026 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report, the Turkish habit of hoarding gold as a tradition had led to a boom in tokenised gold trading within the country.
The precious metal has long been seen as a traditional store of value in Türkiye; the government estimates that around 5,000 tons of gold are hoarded.
After launching the Precious Metal Tracking System (KMTS), which banned buying physical gold with cash, Türkiye’s tokenised gold trading began seeing a surge. In February 2026, trading of the tokenised asset reached US$183.9 million, representing 2.51% of the entire lira book.
Türkiye: Crypto Begins to Go Mainstream
Türkiye was MENA’s largest crypto economy at US$144.5 billion and contracted modestly throughout 2026, which Chainalysis describes as a market in transition rather than retreat.
The country recently began enforcing new regulations requiring all Crypto Asset Service Providers to obtain licences issued by its financial regulator, SPK. This hints at digital assets in Türkiye becoming part of traditional finance rather than a parallel system.
“Offering equity and crypto asset services within the same financial group, with due regard to the relevant authorizations and separation of activities, is increasingly on the agenda,” said Salim Karaman, CEO of BtcTurk, Türkiye’s largest crypto exchange.
Türkiye’s peer-to-peer economy also grew fivefold to US$3.56 billion, with nearly all of the growth in stablecoins. However, Türkiye’s central bank prohibits using crypto to pay for goods and services, so the volume moves between Turkish wallets mainly as a dollar-denominated savings and transfer tool.
Iran: Blackouts Bottle Up Activity
Chainalysis’ analysis of Iran covered only everyday in-country use, excluding illicit activity used to evade sanctions and fund the IRGC. Iranians faced two internet shutdowns in 2026: 20 days in January after economic protests, and 88 days immediately after the war began.
Bitcoin transactions by Iranian wallets fell nearly 90% below baseline in the first week of its first internet blackout, then rebounded above baseline once it was lifted. Transactions fell by 80% during the second blackout, but gradually climbed back to over 75%.
Blackouts stopped Iranians from spending crypto but not from receiving it, so cross-border stablecoin flows into Iran dropped by around 80% once the blackout took hold, then rebounded immediately afterwards.
Israel: A Steady, Retail-Led Market
Israel’s US$37.9 billion crypto economy grew by just 0.7%. Its activity is dominated by inflows into services such as exchanges, with very limited peer-to-peer and cross-border activity.
Stablecoins’ share of Israeli service inflows has risen each period, from 48.1% in 2024 to 51.6% in 2025 and 57.0% in 2026. Almost none of that goes to the one Israel-domiciled exchange Chainalysis tracks, which took 0.06% of stablecoin service inflows, with the rest heading offshore.
The UAE: Institutions Pull Ahead
The UAE’s crypto economy grew 32% to US$104.8 billion, even as the war slowed its broader economy. Excluding the UAE, the rest of MENA contracted 8.6% rather than 1.4%. It now stands at 73% of Türkiye’s size and is on pace to overtake it as early as 2027.
“Outside of the U.S., MENA and in particular the UAE has become the main hub for crypto firms’ global operations,” said Henri Arslanian, co-founder of Nine Blocks Capital Management.
Services drove most of the growth. The US$102.3 billion services sector grew 29%, with centralised exchange inflows up 22% to US$55 billion, institutional platforms up 75% to US$11.7 billion, and decentralised exchanges taking in over US$31 billion, up 31%.
The war also shifted investor behaviour. Bitcoin and tokenised gold holders both rose in March 2026 when the UAE was first targeted in Iranian attacks. After a declared ceasefire broke down, tokenised gold holders kept climbing while bitcoin holders shrank, though Chainalysis stressed that BTC remains far more popular.
Read the report here.
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