The world’s largest Bitcoin-focused conference is set to make its first appearance in the Middle East and North Africa region, with Bitcoin MENA scheduled for December 9-10, 2024 at the ADNEC Centre in Abu Dhabi. Organizers said the event will bring together major voices from the Bitcoin industry, government circles, media, and business as interest in Bitcoin continues to build across the region.
According to the announcement, Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, will deliver the event’s keynote address. Organizers framed his appearance as a central attraction for attendees seeking perspectives on Bitcoin’s role in wealth preservation, financial independence, and the changing structure of global finance. The conference is being positioned as a landmark moment for the regional Bitcoin ecosystem, which the organizers described as entering a “New Gold Rush” phase driven by accelerating adoption.
Abu Dhabi event marks regional expansion
Bitcoin MENA is part of the broader Bitcoin Conference series and is being organized in collaboration with Capital Events, a division of ADNEC Group. The Abu Dhabi edition represents the conference brand’s formal entry into the MENA market, reflecting the growing strategic importance of the Middle East in digital asset conversations.
Organizers said the event will focus on major issues shaping Bitcoin’s development in the region, including the future of finance, capital formation, monetary sovereignty, and the broader implications of Bitcoin adoption for investors, institutions, and policymakers. By selecting Abu Dhabi as the host city, the conference aligns itself with a jurisdiction that has increasingly sought to position itself as a hub for finance, innovation, and global business events.
The announcement also connects the Abu Dhabi event to the momentum generated by Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, which drew 22,000 attendees and featured more than 350 speakers. That U.S. event included appearances by figures such as Donald J. Trump and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, underscoring the conference’s effort to bridge Bitcoin, politics, and corporate strategy on a global scale.
Speaker lineup spans politics, finance, media, and crypto
Beyond Eric Trump’s keynote, organizers have announced a broad roster of speakers from across the Bitcoin and digital asset landscape. Confirmed names include former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci, Binance Head of Regional Markets Vishal Sacheendran, JAN3 CSO Prince Filip of Serbia, Ego Death Capital General Partner Jeff Booth, and economist and author Saifedean Ammous, best known for The Bitcoin Standard.
The event will also feature Zuby Udezue, eToro Co-Founder and CEO Yoni Assia, What Bitcoin Did host Peter McCormack, Rundown Media founder Scottie Pippen, and Dr. Marwan Al Zarouni, identified in the announcement as CEO of AI at Dubai Blockchain Summit. The range of speakers suggests the conference aims to serve not only hardcore Bitcoin users and builders, but also institutional participants, entrepreneurs, public figures, and newer entrants exploring the sector.
That diversity of voices may be especially relevant in the Middle East, where conversations about Bitcoin increasingly overlap with broader themes such as sovereign investment, digital infrastructure, and cross-border capital flows. While the announcement does not outline a detailed agenda, it clearly signals that the conference intends to address both Bitcoin-native themes and macro-level financial transformation.
Event structure includes networking, expo hall, and VIP access
In addition to stage programming, Bitcoin MENA is expected to offer what organizers described as high-impact discussions, networking opportunities with industry leaders, and a dynamic expo floor combining technology and art. Such event formats have become standard for large-scale Bitcoin and crypto conferences, where dealmaking, brand building, and community formation often happen as much outside the main sessions as on stage.
Organizers are also offering a premium Whale pass, marketed as a more exclusive tier that provides elevated VIP access and insider opportunities. While specific access details were not fully outlined in the release, the product appears aimed at high-net-worth attendees, senior executives, and participants seeking closer engagement with speakers, sponsors, and key decision-makers.
The conference messaging positions attendance as important for those who want to help shape the future of finance in the region. This framing reflects how major Bitcoin events increasingly present themselves not just as industry gatherings, but as forums where narratives around money, technology, and regulation are actively being negotiated.
Why the Middle East matters for Bitcoin conferences
The decision to launch a dedicated MENA edition comes at a time when the Middle East is receiving growing attention from crypto and Bitcoin firms. The region has attracted interest for its policy experimentation, capital availability, and efforts by certain jurisdictions to develop frameworks for digital assets and financial technology. Against this backdrop, Abu Dhabi offers symbolic and practical value as a host city: it is internationally connected, institutionally recognized, and backed by a large-scale events infrastructure.
Organizers described the regional environment as one of rapid Bitcoin adoption, though the release did not provide quantitative adoption data. Even so, the emphasis on a “New Gold Rush” narrative suggests the conference is aiming to capture a moment in which Bitcoin is increasingly being discussed not only as a speculative asset, but also as a geopolitical, macroeconomic, and strategic financial instrument.
For attendees and market observers, the Abu Dhabi edition may therefore serve as a barometer of how Bitcoin is being framed in the region: whether primarily as infrastructure, investment, treasury reserve, hedge, ideological project, or some combination of all of these. The presence of figures from finance, media, politics, and crypto-native companies may help illustrate that broader convergence.
Conference series continues global buildout
The Bitcoin Conference is organized by BTC Media, the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine. According to the release, the conference series includes major international events such as Bitcoin Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Bitcoin Asia in Hong Kong, and now Bitcoin MENA in Abu Dhabi. Organizers have also announced that Bitcoin 2025 will be held in Las Vegas in May 2025.
The Abu Dhabi edition can therefore be seen as part of a broader effort to make the brand more globally distributed, while meeting rising demand for region-specific programming. As Bitcoin’s narrative evolves from a largely Western market story to a more global one, conference operators are increasingly following capital, regulatory attention, and new user bases into emerging strategic geographies.
The event’s local partner, ADNEC Group, was founded in 2005 and is described in the release as one of the UAE’s most diversified conglomerates and an important economic driver in the MENA region. The group operates major venues and business lines across events, services, hospitality, leisure tourism, and media, and has expanded beyond Abu Dhabi into markets including the UK, Germany, and France. Its involvement adds logistical and institutional weight to the conference, particularly given Abu Dhabi’s ambitions as a destination for major international exhibitions and financial gatherings.
Registration details and additional information are available through the conference website referenced in the announcement. As with any event centered on a rapidly evolving sector, readers and prospective attendees may want to conduct their own due diligence regarding speakers, sponsors, products, and commercial offerings associated with the conference.