UAE jumps to world No. 2 crypto hub with perfect tax score

UAE rises to No. 2 in global crypto ranking with 10 out of 10 tax score

UAE climbs three places with strong scores for tax, innovation and regulation

Dubai: The UAE has climbed from fifth to second place in a global ranking of crypto-friendly jurisdictions, receiving a perfect score for tax friendliness while finishing behind only Singapore.

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The UAE scored 46.4 out of 60 in the Henley Crypto Adoption Index 2026, compared with Singapore’s 47.1 and Hong Kong’s 46.2, placing it ahead of the US and Switzerland.

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Henley & Partners gave the UAE 10 out of 10 for tax friendliness, citing no tax on crypto trading, staking or mining.

The ranking comes at a time when Henley estimates there are 135,694 people worldwide with cryptocurrency holdings worth at least $1 million, while the total value of the global cryptocurrency market stood at $2.6 trillion as of August 31, 2026.

UAE climbs three places

The UAE rose from fifth place last year to second in the 2026 index, which assesses countries offering residence and citizenship pathways and examines their crypto and blockchain environments using more than 900 data points.

Six areas are scored out of 10 before being combined into a total score out of 60.

The UAE received 7.6 for public adoption, 4.6 for infrastructure adoption, 8.9 for innovation and technology, 7.3 for its regulatory environment, 8.0 for economic factors and 10 for tax friendliness.

Henley highlighted the UAE’s multi-layered digital asset market, including dedicated virtual asset regulation in Dubai, a separate crypto framework in the Dubai International Financial Centre and established regimes in other financial centres.

Updated rules covering exchanges, custody and token issuance, together with the Digital Dirham and favourable personal taxation, were also among the factors cited in the assessment.

Singapore keeps top position

Singapore retained first place for a fourth consecutive year, while Hong Kong ranked third.

The US finished fourth with a score of 43.7 and was the only jurisdiction to receive a perfect 10 for public adoption, while Switzerland ranked fifth with 43.4.

Malta was sixth, followed by Thailand, the UK, Cyprus and The Bahamas.

The Bahamas entered the index in 10th place this year, while Bahrain was another new entrant at 13th globally.

Henley also ranked the UAE first in its separate Wealth Mobility Competitiveness measure with a score of 85.3 out of 100. Singapore followed at 79.5, New Zealand at 75.8, the Cayman Islands at 74.3 and Cyprus at 73.5.

Dubai regulation in focus

Dubai’s establishment of a standalone virtual asset regulator in 2022 was among the developments highlighted in the report.

Henley said regulatory clarity and the taxation of digital assets are among the factors shaping competition between international jurisdictions seeking to attract wealthy and globally mobile digital asset investors.

The index benchmarks 36 countries offering residence and citizenship pathways and assesses factors including regulation, taxation, infrastructure, innovation and adoption.

Crypto wealth reaches $2.6 trillion

Henley estimates that 135,694 people worldwide hold at least $1 million in cryptocurrency, including 92,272 Bitcoin millionaires.

Another 290 people are estimated to hold at least $100 million in digital assets, while there are 23 crypto billionaires worldwide, including nine Bitcoin billionaires.

Bitcoin accounted for $1.6 trillion of the total $2.6 trillion cryptocurrency market as of August 31.

Henley introduced a different methodology for its crypto wealth estimates in the 2026 report, using public blockchain and market data with adjustments intended to estimate individual holders instead of simply counting cryptocurrency addresses.

The estimate of 92,272 Bitcoin millionaires carries a range of between 74,000 and 114,000, while the wider estimate of 135,694 crypto millionaires has a range of between 132,000 and 154,000.

Henley said previous editions used a different methodology, meaning the 2026 figures cannot be directly compared with earlier reports and no year-on-year growth rate for the number of crypto millionaires was calculated.

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Source: gulfnews.com