Standard Chartered is now selling Bitcoin and Ethereum to affluent UAE clients. Gate’s own data shows 73.9% of MENA crypto volume goes into CFDs tied to oil, currencies, and gold. And the region’s crypto market is on track to hit $1 trillion by 2030. Two very different stories are playing out at the same time. Joining me is Edwin Cheung, Executive Director at Gate. Edwin, Standard Chartered is now selling Bitcoin and Ethereum to affluent UAE clients. Are banks competing with exchanges like Gate — or are they bringing in a new wave of investors?
I don’t see this as a competitor. In traditional finance, banks and brokers are not competing with each other — they all have their own distinct edges, infrastructure, and client bases. What banks entering this space actually do is enlarge the overall pie. Three to five years ago, the population of people adopting digital assets was still relatively small. Things are evolving. A lot of institutional capital — pension funds, sovereign endowments — has legacy fund restrictions that require safekeeping in tier-one regulated banks. What banks bringing in is that with these endowment funds, they can start removing the friction and allow all this capital to enter digital assets. And the liquidity? Banks are not building it from scratch — they find it through liquidity providers and exchanges like us. Very encouraging.
Your own data shows 73.9% of MENA crypto volume goes into CFDs tied to oil, currencies, and gold. Many traders are not speculating on crypto — they are trading it like a forex desk. Why?
It is not too surprising. MENA has a very unique economic proposition. The region is a global hub for traders across east and west, packed with multinational corporates. A lot of people tapping into digital assets here are not doing it for speculative trading — they are doing it for commodity exposure hedging, and using regional currencies to hedge using digital assets. It is more like a daily operational necessity. They see the value in 24/7 trading hours, faster instant settlement, seamless cross-border transfer of capital — things that could not be done using traditional finance before.
Gate just launched Gate Money. Is the crypto exchange now becoming an everything finance app?
The era of the single-purpose trading platform is already behind us. What users are looking for is not splitting their financials across five different platforms for crypto, equities, commodities, and fiat. What we see is more like a combined jurisdiction and platform where customers can keep all their assets in one place. We started 13 years ago with crypto. 2026 is a very important year to start adding equities and fiat into our platform to allow multi-asset trading and a true multi-fiat money app.
The UAE has multiple versions of digital money competing for the same space. Are they solving the same problem or different ones?
USDT still dominates as a stablecoin — it is very hard to replace with other dollar stablecoins. I would treat the UAE as more like a global liquidity hub or gateway for using Tether stablecoin. For regulated stablecoins, I see them more as a payment tool — for retailers and corporates to receive funds in addition to traditional fiat. When you buy a property or you are a corporate treasurer, I believe there is a very good edge for dirham-backed stablecoins or digital assets serving the local population. These tools will be bundled together for different purposes rather than one replacing the other.
Can MENA’s crypto market actually reach $1 trillion by 2030?
Absolutely — why not? Right now we are above half a trillion — around 450 to 500 billion. Doubling in a few years is doable. The UAE has a very forward-thinking regulatory environment, and Saudi Arabia is coming up with its own digital asset framework. These are very important steps. We also see a lot of young, tech-savvy talent coming in — people telling me they are coming to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for tech-related opportunities. Massive inflows of capital are starting to pump into this area. 2030 is a great milestone and I believe we will make a toast towards that.
Thank you so much Edwin for being with us today.
Thank you so much for having me.
