Saudi Arabia saw a 51% year-on-year increase in blockchain business registrations by the end of Q2 2025, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

The number of active blockchain businesses rose to 4,005, up from 2,644 during the same period last year.

Riyadh led with 2,463 registrations, followed by Makkah (806), the Eastern Province (430), Madinah (104), and Al-Qassim (51).

The Ministry attributed the growth to rising interest in digital technologies and supportive regulations for blockchain, fintech, and AI.

This surge aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the economy and expand the technology sector.

🔗 Source: Saudi Gazette

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Saudi’s blockchain surge follows years of regional groundwork

The 51% growth in Saudi blockchain businesses represents an acceleration of efforts that began around 2016-2017 across Gulf states, not a sudden phenomenon.

Saudi Arabia’s early blockchain implementations included Al Rajhi Bank’s first blockchain wire transfer and the Islamic Development Bank’s 2017 initiative to develop Sharia-compliant blockchain financial platforms 1.

The Kingdom’s growth is part of a broader regional strategy, with neighboring UAE previously establishing its Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021 that aimed to transition 50% of government transactions to blockchain 2.

This regional foundation explains why specific cities like Riyadh (2,463 registrations) have become concentrated hubs for blockchain innovation, building on years of infrastructure development rather than starting from scratch.

The current surge reflects the maturation of earlier experimental projects into commercially viable enterprises, demonstrating how emerging technology adoption often follows a long incubation period before reaching inflection points.

2️⃣ Blockchain applications extend far beyond cryptocurrency in Saudi context

Saudi Arabia’s blockchain growth spans diverse sectors with proven use cases that predate the current registration surge by several years.

As early as 2019, SABB and HSBC completed the first blockchain-based trade transaction between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, using R3’s Corda platform to process a letter of credit for aluminum shipments, demonstrating practical applications in trade finance 3.