The Last Trade E034: Building Better On-Ramps in MENA with Talal Tabbaa

Brian Cubellis sits down with Talal Tabbaa, CEO of Coinmena, to explore the state of Bitcoin adoption across the Middle East and North Africa. Talal recounts how Coinmena was founded during COVID to address the poor quality of existing exchanges in the region, and how the MENA market is maturing rapidly with institutional and retail interest accelerating. The conversation covers Dubai's emergence as a global Bitcoin hub, regulatory developments across the Gulf, and what the West can learn from how MENA is approaching Bitcoin infrastructure. Talal argues that the region's combination of young demographics, high mobile penetration, and capital-friendly regulation positions it as one of the most important growth markets for Bitcoin globally.