Rumors have been circulating on the internet that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) might be sitting on $40 billion worth of bitcoin. If true, that would make the UAE one of the biggest holders of the leading digital asset.
But for now, this is unverified and experts are debating its validity.
It all began with a tweet from Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder of Binance, who shared an article saying the UAE has 411,978 BTC, worth $40 billion.
That tweet got the Bitcoin community’s attention, including Irina Heaver, a lawyer who questioned the article’s credibility. She said the article had no evidence and might be AI generated.
Heaver asked CZ about this and he replied, “I also wondered how they came up with the exact number; it’s challenging to collect.” He said the number exceeded his expectation but not entirely impossible given the wealth in the UAE.
Although the number is unverified, several things in the UAE make the idea of the country being heavily invested in bitcoin plausible. Over the past year the UAE has been making big moves to be a global leader in blockchain and digital currencies:
- AE Coin: The UAE launched its own stablecoin, AE Coin, pegged to the Dirham. This is part of the UAE Government Digital Strategy 2025 to boost the digital economy.
- Tax Exemptions: The Federal Tax Authority exempted digital assets from value added tax (VAT) retroactive from 2018.
- Salaries in Digital Currencies: A Dubai court allowed salaries to be paid in digital assets. More proof the country is Bitcoin friendly.
- Digital Asset Inflows and Market Growth: Between 2023 and mid-2024 the UAE saw $34 billion in digital asset inflows, 19% of which was bitcoin.
Commentators from digital assets community are still debating the validity of the rumor. Bitcoin Archive, a well known Bitcoin news source, called the $40 billion claim “fake news” and said there’s no evidence.
“People are stating the UAE $40b Bitcoin purchase as a FACT. From all the publicly available information, this has not been confirmed,” Bitcoin Archive said.
If true, that would make the UAE the 3rd biggest bitcoin holder, even bigger than El Salvador which has around 6,000 BTC.
The UAE story is part of a bigger trend where countries are allegedly accumulating bitcoin. Saudi Arabia and Qatar were also rumored to be buying more bitcoin recently. While these might be just rumors, they show that the idea of bitcoin as a reserve asset is gaining traction among governments.
Related: Whale Spotted | Is Qatar Buying Bitcoin?
For example, El Salvador has made bitcoin legal tender and is still adding to its reserves. According to Max Keiser, advisor to the President of El Salvador, the country is planning to buy 20,000 more BTC, so Bitcoin is playing a bigger role in the country’s national financial plans.
Regardless of the truth of the rumor, the UAE is clearly committed to being a global Bitcoin hub.
Dubai has become a blockchain innovation center with thousands of digital asset companies. The Dubai Multi Commodities Center’s Crypto Center has created a regulatory friendly environment for international blockchain businesses.
CZ commented: “I certainly did a lot of shilling here. But didn’t know the number was so big or how much of that could be attributed to my efforts.”
As the debate continues, one thing is for sure; the UAE is definitely into digital assets. If this rumor is ever confirmed, it will be a game changer for how countries treat Bitcoin.
