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Emirates NBD is tapping into the UAE’s booming crypto scene by integrating a cryptocurrency trading service into its Liv X digital banking app. With crypto app downloads in the UAE increasing by 41% to 15 million in 2024, according to AppsFlyer, the Emirates NBD group is leveraging its established reputation and the country’s favorable regulatory environment to capitalise on surging local interest and demand for cryptocurrency trading.

GlobalData 2024 Financial Services Consumer Survey

GlobalData’s 2024 Financial Services Consumer Survey shows the UAE is among the top countries for cryptocurrency ownership, with 44% of consumers holding crypto, an increase from 37% the year before. Meanwhile, the percentage of crypto holders who actively invest in the asset grew from 83% to 91% over the same period.

Several factors have driven this surge in demand. Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) has positioned itself ahead of the curve in crypto regulation globally, as it issued its comprehensive virtual asset framework back in 2023 to foster innovation in cryptocurrencies within a safe regulated environment. The UAE recognised early on that regulation could provide the credibility that the crypto industry has struggled to establish elsewhere, the credibility that has since propelled Dubai to the status of global crypto hub.

In response, a number of Web3 companies globally (primarily from India) started setting up shop in Dubai to leverage the regulatory environment for new crypto product and solution launches. Amid the influx of new crypto players, Emirates NBD holds a significant advantage with its latest trading solution.

GlobalData Competitor Benchmarking Analytics

As the UAE’s second-largest main banking provider with a 17% market share, as per GlobalData’s Competitor Benchmarking Analytics 2024 , it benefits from strong customer trust. UAE incumbents enjoy record-high levels of consumer confidence, with customers more likely to turn to their primary bank for financial support than in almost any other market.

The Emirates NBD group made a strategic move in the digital banking era by launching Liv Bank in 2017, creating the country’s first digital-only bank. It leveraged this separate digital-native platform to stay ahead of innovation with the introduction of novel features such as a gamified reward structure, and lifestyle tools and benefits.

At the same time, Liv is backed by 60 years of the Emirates NBD group’s established brand legacy, which induces trust among the wider population, even for some of the newest and potentially riskier financial trends, such as cryptocurrency trading. The UAE is now creating a blueprint for traditional financial institutions’ crypto adoption journey that is being made possible by the proactive and timely regulation of the industry, combined with legacy institutions’ openness and willingness to innovate and cater to the modern banking customer’s demand.

To avoid falling behind on a trend that is now undoubtedly here to stay, Western banks and regulators need to take note and acknowledge and cater to the population’s crypto interest with urgency.

Blandina Szalay is an analyst, Banking & Payments, at GlobalData

"Regulation, openness, and a modern platform needed for legacy banks to embrace cryptos" was originally created and published by Private Banker International , a GlobalData owned brand.

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