Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | jk

On February 28, 2026, the U.S. and Israel launched a military strike against Iran, which immediately launched a large-scale counterattack. The sky of the Middle East was instantly shattered by missiles, and it was not just military facilities on the battlefield that were destroyed; the lives of cryptocurrency practitioners who had just settled in this land were also shattered. Dubai, a city that has recently been hailed as the "promised land of Web3," is facing a more realistic and severe test.

In this regard, Odaily Planet Daily interviewed several crypto industry practitioners based in Dubai, asking about their experiences and current situations, as well as their plans for the next safe haven.

Current Situation in Dubai: Airport Attacked, Hotel on Fire, Delayed Reactions in Finance and Real Estate

For those living in the UAE, Dubai has, in a sense, become a battlefield.

Since Iran launched its "real commitment" retaliation operation, Iran has fired over two thousand missiles and drones toward Dubai, leading to a tug-of-war between missiles and anti-missile systems in the sky over Dubai.

On the ground, Dubai International Airport and the Burj Al Arab hotel have already been affected, and social media is filled with scenes of the Dubai International Airport terminal being pierced by drone debris, smoke billowing, and passengers fleeing.

Emergency evacuation at Dubai International Airport after it was hit. Source: X

The fuel depot near Dubai International Airport was hit. Source: BBC

In the local Chinese community in Dubai, there are daily reports of "I just heard an explosion here again."

Previously, Odaily Planet Daily reported that a drone fragment fell and caught fire at the Fairmont Palm Hotel in Palm Island, the most luxurious area in Dubai, injuring four people. (I checked this hotel, the cheapest room during the off-season costs 1,500 RMB a night, while in peak season it can reach three to four thousand.)

If you only look at the news, you might feel that there's nowhere safe in Dubai.

The first reaction of outsiders is: if the situation is already this serious, isn't Dubai's hottest real estate market about to crash through the center of the earth? Shouldn't we evacuate?

What about the Real Estate and Financial Markets?

At the start of the retaliation, the Dubai Financial Market Real Estate Index (DFMREI) plummeted from about 16,000 points to around 11,500-11,700 points, falling approximately 30% in just a few weeks, and residential transaction volumes also decreased by 25%-30%. DFMREI fell from about 16,140 points on February 28 to around 11,500 points by mid-March, a drop of about 30%, hitting the lowest point since April 2025 and erasing the gains for the entire year of 2026. As of March 31, DFMREI closed at 11,721.04 points, essentially maintaining a low-level consolidation with no significant rebound.

Dubai Financial Market Real Estate Index, Source: TradingView

However, it is important to note that DFMREI tracks the stock prices of real estate companies listed on the Dubai Stock Exchange (such as Emaar, DAMAC, etc.), not the actual real estate transaction prices. A 30% drop in the index does not mean that apartment prices in Dubai have dropped by 30%; in terms of actual transactions, according to local news reports, there was a noticeable decrease in actual property transactions from February 28 to March 22 compared to the same period last year, with average transaction prices dropping about 4%-5%.

In terms of the financial market, as of March 31, the stock markets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have collectively lost about $120 billion in market value since the war began on February 28, with the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) composite index down about 16%, losing about $45 billion; while the Abu Dhabi ADX composite index fell about 9%, losing about $75 billion.

From the market's reaction, it seems that the situation is not that severe.

At the same time, Dubai International Airport is still operating, but only executing a reduced flight schedule; a fuel depot fire caused by a drone on March 30 briefly halted flights, and limited operations were restored only by 10 a.m. that morning; the flight suspension orders from major European airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France, and British Airways have been extended to the end of March and even later, with some cancellations lasting until May 31.

The Token2049 Dubai summit, well-known in the crypto industry and originally scheduled for April 29-30, 2026, has announced a delay until April 2027 due to "the impact of regional ongoing uncertainty on safety, international travel, and operational logistics."

Conflicting information keeps pouring in; what is the true nature of Dubai?

Where is the future of this city headed? Is Dubai's crypto industry facing irreversible damage?

Portraits of Dubai's Crypto Practitioners: Some Resign and Return Home, While Others Rush to the "Frontline"

"Some resign and return home, while others rush to the examination field at night." This line from "The Scholars" aptly describes the scene in Dubai in 2026. From the responses collected from crypto industry practitioners by Odaily Planet Daily, they can roughly be divided into three categories.

Fleeing: A Thousand Reasons Can't Compare to a Single Concern from Parents

Stella is a data analyst at a cryptocurrency exchange, with her company headquarters in Dubai. She has been working in Dubai for a year. This February, she took her annual leave to return to her hometown in Hunan to celebrate a lively New Year with her parents.

But once the New Year passed, geopolitical conflict erupted.

On the day of her return, Stella waited for 5 hours at the airport as her originally booked flight was delayed again and again, ultimately getting canceled.

“The ticket prices were changing daily during those days,” she told Odaily Planet Daily reporters, “Fortunately, the company finally allowed all of us to work remotely, and no one went to the office in Dubai.”

She told the reporters that she initially planned to rush back to Dubai, but found it difficult to explain to her parents at home. Stella said, her parents are both in their fifties, and they often see reports on WeChat public accounts about explosions and airstrikes in the area; she really couldn't bear to make them worry so much.

“When I was studying for my master's degree abroad, I encountered the COVID-19 pandemic, and my parents could hardly sleep at night looking at the local infection data.” After discovering the long-term trend of conflict in Iran, Stella felt that even if she had to work with a time difference, she didn't want to experience something similar again.

Stella is fortunate. In contrast, Rebecca, who works for a cryptocurrency infrastructure service provider, had to rush home after the conflict broke out.

On March 6, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded Chinese citizens stranded in the Middle East to take advantage of the recovering flight availability to evacuate promptly.

After the conflict broke out, Rebecca revealed that ticket prices hadn’t shot up excessively, but it still required some effort to secure tickets at the outset. Especially when the conflict first started, there were reports claiming "U.S. troops were bombing Iran while hiding under civilian aircraft radar, thus going undetected," leading some people concerned about civilian flights potentially becoming targets to drive several hours from Dubai to Oman, the only Middle Eastern country without a U.S. military base, before eventually returning home.

Rebecca said, during that period, everyone she knew had already returned home.

“This time, truly, the vast majority of Chinese people heard explosions for the first time; who can bear that?”

Stayers: If the Sheikh Isn't Leaving, Why Should I?

A considerable number of staying individuals also expressed a very optimistic attitude during interviews. Within a few days after the Iranian attack, UAE leaders, including the Sheikhs, publicly appeared in downtown Dubai to reassure the public and express confidence.

After the conflict, the Sheikhs appeared in public. Source: Gulf News

According to The National's report, as of the 29th, there have been 11 confirmed deaths and 178 injuries in the UAE, and fortunately, none of them were Chinese. Most of the injured were South Asian foreign workers, with a small portion being military personnel.

Tiffany, who works on a crypto wallet project, told reporters, “For those in Dubai, companies that are not working remotely are basically going about their normal business as usual.”

According to interviews by crypto.news, a trading platform employee using the alias Jarseed stated that he has already left Dubai for Hong Kong, but “many exchange employees have bought homes, settled down, and sent their kids to school in Dubai; this group has a much higher attachment than the digital nomads who can relocate at any time.” Even if the company allows temporary home office work or longer remote work, these individuals have already put down roots in Dubai. Where else can they go?

Returnees: Are You Brave Enough to Sign a Death Pact?

"It's not my company, but I know some companies require employees returning to Dubai to sign a death pact." An anonymous employee stationed in Dubai revealed.

This sounds shocking at first, but it is indeed the reality for some workers in Dubai. As commercial entities, companies naturally cannot guarantee personal safety amid prevailing conditions, so some companies require employees to sign liability waivers, which are what they refer to as "death pacts."

One reason is that some people cannot return home for various reasons; on the other hand, because so many are returning home, local businesses have experienced a vacuum in certain niche areas. At this time, whoever has the courage to step up and take on these orders has the opportunity to leapfrog ahead in various industries.

This is both a risk and an opportunity. Thus, the Middle East has witnessed some brave returnees.

Stella amusedly opened her phone to show Odaily Planet Daily the local group chat: “You see, in the group chat, this person just came back, and everyone is flooding the chat with ‘Welcome xx back to the battlefield to shoulder our collective hardships’”.

Dubai's Position Has No Substitute

"In the long run, will Dubai still be the cryptocurrency center of the Middle East?" I asked everyone what their thoughts were on this question.

Ethan, the founder of a certain Web3 x AI project, directly opened up the map to discuss this issue.

Ethan believes that Dubai’s location is irreplaceable in the long term. His logic is quite simple: Without Dubai, where else can we go?

If you draw a circle centered around the UAE, you will find that there are almost no cities comparable to Dubai within the range.

The only city of similar scale nearby is Qatar, which, although developed and not lacking in money, is also within the strike range. Israel is developed as well, but how can one do business with Arabs if moved there? Other cities in the Middle East are smaller than Dubai and may also be affected by the escalating situation.

Farther cities like Istanbul do not have a large enough market scale, and the English-speaking rate is not high enough. Even farther places in North Africa do not have the same level of financial and political stability as Dubai.

If you want to do business in the EU, why not just move directly to London, Paris, or Frankfurt?

So, after considering this circle, Ethan believes that if one wishes to meet the conditions of similar scale cities, unobstructed language communication, crypto-friendliness, and stable policies and financial environments, Dubai is the only choice.

“We can’t go to India, can we?”

Ethan told me that Dubai has always been the central hub for business transactions in the Middle East. Agricultural products from North Africa are unloaded here, and small appliances from domestic sources circulate here. In the Deira area where Ethan lives, hundreds of thousands of Indians, Arabs, and Africans uphold the largest trade market in the Middle East.

Rebecca maintains a similar viewpoint. She works for an international large company, and Dubai is the center of their operations in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Although she is temporarily working remotely in China, she told us that the company’s operations are functioning normally, and she "will eventually return to Dubai."

The Agglomeration Effect of Big Cities is Important, Especially for the Crypto Industry

Oliver, the Business Development head for a certain auditing project, told Odaily Planet Daily that living in a big city like Dubai is very important for teams.

He told us that while most Web3 operations are remote, merely relying on online connections and attending meetings is far from sufficient for Business Development. Most of his colleagues are based in hotspot cities like Singapore and New York, and they typically manage very good crypto circles within their own cities, which is crucial for establishing familiarity and early trust.

Oliver comes from a traditional finance background and believes that the BD and sales process "is best discussed face-to-face."

From this perspective, residing in a big city with a crypto atmosphere is notably important. Remote-working digital nomads can indeed choose to live in low-cost areas like Nepal, but how many potential clients for the crypto industry can they find there?

Trust in the UAE, but More So in Our Homeland

According to Crypto.news, Shuyao, co-founder of MegaETH, stated, “In the medium to long term, I remain very optimistic about Dubai; it is merely undergoing its bear market phase now.”

Tiffany, who works in an operations role, said, “There is another layer of risk.”

Due to factors like war being classified as force majeure, companies can conduct layoffs without fault as stipulated in contracts signed by some workers. At this point, if employees prefer not to return to Dubai, they may have to part ways with the company.

Therefore, some of those returning may also be compelled by their circumstances.

However, she told us,

“I believe in the UAE; the situation will not become truly irreversible, and China will certainly evacuate its citizens. I also trust our country.”

(The names Stella, Rebecca, Tiffany, Ethan, and Oliver are pseudonyms.)

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