The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been the world’s biggest contributor to crypto token sales so far this year, according to data recently released by CoinSchedule.
More than 25% of funds raised since the start of 2019 — $210.5 million — have come from the Gulf nation.
The Cayman Islands came second with $103.8 million, with Singapore third with $89.7 million.
While the United States has long dominated token sales, the data shows it has fallen to sixth place in terms of the funds raised since January. U.S. investors have pledged $37.2 million to token sales — a fifth of their counterparts in the UAE.
The UAE’s surge in crypto investments has been sudden, as the state did not even feature in the top 10 countries for digital token sales in 2018.
With initial coin offerings coming under scrutiny in the U.S. over recent months, Alex Buelau, the CEO of CoinSchedule, told Bloomberg:
“We are seeing the continuation of the move away from the USA due to regulatory concerns.”
According to Bloomberg, two big token sales have driven the UAE’s dominance in CoinSchedule’s rankings. The first is GCBIB, which is developing banking products for crypto users, while the second is Bolton Coin, a business offering investments in real estate and crypto mining.
When it comes to the countries holding the most token sales, CoinSchedule’s data tells a different story. Singapore has dominated since the start of the year with 12 — followed by the United Kingdom on nine and the United States on seven.
The UAE has been seeking to become a leading destination for blockchain-related businesses by preparing new crypto legislation. In January, the UAE and Saudi Arabia unveiled plans to cooperate on the creation of a cryptocurrency to help facilitate cross-border transactions between the two countries.