Cointelegraph expands to Middle East and North Africa with a new franchise

Cointelegraph, the premier blockchain- and crypto-focused media outlet, is expanding its presence into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with the help of a new franchise owner, Luna Media Corporation.

Based in Dubai, Luna Media Corporation is a media holding group that aims to promote the Web3 industry through a variety of unrelated ventures and investments. The new franchise will be crucial to increasing the exposure of blockchain projects and activities in the MENA region to a global audience, according to the Tuesday announcement.

Founded in 2013, Cointelegraph has been at the forefront of blockchain and Web3 news, covering cryptocurrency, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the metaverse space, decentralized finance (DeFi) and other emerging financial technology.

Elijah Leyb, vice president of global operations at Cointelegraph, oversees 10 local versions of the site in addition to the primary edition in English, including French, Spanish, German, Italian, Turkish, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Arabic. Leyb said he is “looking forward to securing our position in the very promising MENA region with our new partner.”

Commenting on the new development, Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr stated:

“The MENA region is booming with innovative projects, including blockchain and crypto, and it is an amazing opportunity for us to grow our readership through original content produced in Arabic from within one of the most active modern hubs of the fintech community, Dubai.”

Cointelegraph MENA will provide Arabic-language news coverage of the top news and technological advances in each country in the area. The publication will have a significant impact on a market that is rapidly growing. To follow the latest news from Cointelegraph MENA, visit ar.cointelegraph.com.

Related: From within: Dubai's virtual asset regulator plans to open HQ in metaverse

The MENA region has been a hub of activity in the crypto and blockchain space in recent years. The United Arab Emirates has been leading the charge with its regulatory efforts and is home to a number of major blockchain and crypto brands.

In 2021, Morocco was the most popular Bitcoin (BTC) market in North Africa — despite the fact that it’s illegal in the country. As reported by Cointelegraph, the “Kingdom of the West,” as it’s known locally, was the runaway North African leader in Bitcoin trading in 2021, just narrowly edged out by Saudi Arabia when looking at the entire MENA region.