Bitcoin (BTC) Demand Lifts MENA Crypto Volume to $350B, Bitcoin Policy Institute Reports

MENA Crypto Volume Triples to $350B

Annual blockchain transaction value across the Middle East and North Africa has reached an estimated $350 billion in 2025–2026, more than triple the roughly $100 billion recorded in 2022, according to a report published Friday by the Bitcoin Policy Institute. The institute argues the Iran conflict accelerated a shift of regional capital into digital assets rather than out of the region. After the June 2025 outbreak of fighting, Bitcoin first traded risk-off alongside equities, then attracted rotations from riskier tokens, lifting its share of the crypto market to a one-month high of 64.8%. Currency depreciation in Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and Iran reinforced demand for BTC and dollar-pegged stablecoins, while Gulf hubs such as Dubai and Bahrain kept onboarding regulated firms.

Starcloud's Space Mining Bet

Space-based data center startup Starcloud has drawn nearly $500 million in funding at a valuation above $2 billion — and now plans to mine BTC in orbit. The economics are contentious: mining has always hinged on securing the cheapest possible energy, and orbital operations add launch costs, heat-radiation constraints, radiation exposure and prohibitively expensive maintenance. The company has already sent a single Nvidia H100 GPU to space, though the satellite overheats and cannot run the chip at full power. Independent engineering analyses argue a gigawatt-scale orbital facility would require tens of thousands of launches and a solar-and-radiator array roughly four kilometers long — far beyond current launch capacity.

Satoshi-Era Coins Wake Up

On-chain data shows 12 wallets dormant for roughly 16 years moved a combined 600 BTC on September 5, worth about $48 million at transfer time. The coins were block rewards from 12 blocks mined in March 2010, when the halving era's predecessor paid 50 BTC per block. Tracking firm Whale Alert found no link to Satoshi Nakamoto, noting one transfer preceded the rest in a pattern consistent with a test transaction; no confirmed exchange deposit or sale has been identified.

Fourth-Busiest Day on Record

The network itself just posted a landmark usage figure: 893,391 daily transactions, the fourth-highest count in Bitcoin's history and above the 99th percentile of its historical range. Galaxy Research's transaction-count post on September 7 showed the tally rose 23.4% from 723,854 the prior day and roughly 102.6% from 441,035 a year earlier. CryptoQuant-linked research attributes much of 2026's growth to sub-0.01 BTC transfers, now about 80% of all transactions. Separate on-chain movement followed the Coldcard wallet exploit: Galaxy's tracking shows the Wave 3 attacker has laundered 45% of that haul through THORChain and CoinJoin, while 82% of all stolen coins remain in attacker addresses. The security breach had negligible price impact — BTC rallied near $82,000 in August.

Galaxy Research's transaction-count posthttps://x.com/glxyresearch/status/2096938009182556586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Fed Sets the $80K Ceiling

Fund-flow data is now tracking monetary policy more than crypto-specific catalysts. CoinShares head of research James Butterfill argues that “Bitcoin is trading like gold again, but the Fed still sets the ceiling” near $80,000 — echoing our recent coverage of the Bitcoin (BTC) 90-day gold correlation at 0.56. Roughly $100 million left digital asset products after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's hawkish Jackson Hole speech, then flows rebounded to $1 billion by September 4 after Governor Christopher Waller signaled support for holding rates steady. CME FedWatch prices a roughly 60% chance of a 25-basis-point hike on September 16. On the supply side, miners have stopped selling: the Miner Position Index collapsed from 2.8 in August to -1.2 in September after the industry's $30 billion pivot to AI infrastructure took an estimated 56 EH/s offline, tightening exchange supply.

Capital B Adds 376 BTC

French treasury firm Capital B bought 376 BTC for €25.3 million ($29.5 million) at an average €67,182 per coin, lifting its holdings to 3,521 BTC, funded through roughly €30.1 million in capital raises backed by Adam Back and TOBAM. Swissquote Bank Europe executed the purchase with Taurus providing custody, and the company now ranks 25th among publicly listed holders — a modern form of strategic bitcoin reserve building. The filing trail shows the strategy is not universal: the SEC EDGAR filing from K Wave Media documents a move to unwind its treasury, while Metaplanet holds 43,000 BTC and Strategy remains the largest holder at 845,050 BTC after an August purchase of 4,603 coins. Readers tracking the market in real time can follow live spot and futures prices on Gate.

$81.6K Resistance in Focus

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine rates the $81,600 resistance at 86/100 — a STRONG ceiling built from the pivot R3, Fibo 0.000, Donchian Upper and swing-high confluence — while spot trades at $79,148, down 0.96% over 24 hours. First support sits at $74,132, scored 74/100 on the Ichimoku Kijun, high-volume node, Fibo 0.382 and lower-Bollinger cluster. RSI at 62.9 with a bearish MACD cross and a sideways trend signals consolidation under a hard ceiling. Derivatives positioning is mildly constructive: funding at 0.0010%, open interest of $15.64 billion and a 1.28 long/short account ratio (56% long), with the Fear & Greed Index at 71 (Greed). A daily close above $81,600 would confirm breakout continuation; losing $74,132 would invalidate the range-support thesis and open a retest of $70,930.