Eric Trump to speak at Bitcoin Mena in Abu Dhabi as cryptocurrency market booms

Arun Leslie John, The National, December 10, 2024

With Bitcoin surging to unprecedented heights, the prospects of the cryptocurrency market have never been better. Better regulations, a growing influx of crypto players and a general acceptance of the future of finance are all supporting the market, analysts said, as the Bitcoin Mena conference begins in Abu Dhabi this week, bringing together some of the world's biggest names.

Speakers include Eric Trump, son of US president-elect Donald Trump, billionaire Steve Witkoff, the new White House envoy for the Middle East and co-founder of World Liberty Financial, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, alias CZ, and David Bailey, co-founder and chief executive of BTC, among others.

Bitcoin, the world's first and biggest cryptocurrency, soared past the $100,000 mark last week, leaping 40 per cent in the two weeks after Donald Trump won the US elections, as the market embraced the incoming US administration's pro-crypto stance.

It was flirting at the six-figure mark as of Monday, now up by nearly half since the November 5 polls, leading a crypto sector whose market capitalisation is now at more than $3.67 trillion, data from CoinMarketCap shows.

Cryptocurrencies, while still in their infancy, have long been promoted to be safer and more cost-efficient alternatives to traditional money. Together with their underlying technology, blockchain, their economic effect could be sweeping.

In a scenario where cryptos become more mainstream, they could significantly affect the economy and reshape the financial landscape in several ways, Arun Leslie John, chief market analyst at Dubai-based Century Financial, told The National, noting that they could shake up finance in two ways: by improving global transactions and through the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

"Cryptocurrencies have lower transaction costs when compared to banks. Additionally, they are facilitated through a global platform, making cross-border payments faster and cheaper. This could benefit international trade and remittances,” he said.

"CBDCs, on the other hand, could coexist with traditional currencies or replace them. Such a move would potentially reshape monetary policy and financial stability.”

The UAE has emerged as the Mena region's third-largest crypto economy after Saudi Arabia and Turkey, receiving around $34 billion worth of cryptos between July 2023 and June 2024, a 42 per cent annual jump that is significantly higher than the Mena average of almost 12 per cent, data from New York-based Chainalysis shows.

The Mena region ranks as the seventh-largest crypto market globally in 2024, with an estimated $338.7 billion received between the same period, accounting for 7.5 per cent of the world’s total transaction volume, it added.

Source

The National