UAE investors responded to the first quarter’s technology selloff by increasing positions in artificial intelligence infrastructure and crypto-linked equities rather than retreating to safety, according to fresh data released by eToro. The supporting evidence appears in the cited X post.
The behavior signals a conviction-driven approach to long-term digital asset and AI themes even as the ongoing US-Israeli conflict with Iran introduces fresh geopolitical risk across the Gulf region.
Josh Gilbert, market analyst at eToro, confirmed the pattern in a statement accompanying the dataset, saying investors became more selective about where they took risk in Q1 rather than adopting a blanket risk-off posture.
The data reveals a clear preference for buying weakness in AI software and infrastructure names with long growth runways, even when near-term volatility spiked.
AI Infrastructure Names Drew the Strongest Buying Interest
The sharpest moves came inside AI software and infrastructure holdings. ServiceNow saw a 125% increase in UAE investor exposure on the eToro platform during the quarter, while Super Micro Computer climbed 65% in terms of holdings.
Adobe followed with a 54% increase, and Oracle recorded a 38% rise, all despite broadly falling share prices creating the entry point investors needed.
Gilbert described the dynamic as a rotation within the tech sector rather than an exit from it. Maintaining core exposure to diversified mega-cap technology while repositioning selectively reflects a risk-aware approach, he said, rather than panic selling.
The data suggests UAE retail and semi-institutional investors are treating current valuations as an opportunity shaped by macroeconomic noise, not a reason to abandon the AI trade entirely.
On the crypto side, Strategy Inc. held its ground as the eighth-most-held stock among UAE users on the platform.
That placement reinforces the view that investors in the region are keeping exposure to Bitcoin-linked equities as a proxy for crypto market participation, even as broader sentiment remains cautious.
The persistence of that position through a volatile quarter carries weight as a signal of conviction rather than inertia.
Iran Conflict Stress Tests Gulf Data Center Ambitions
The backdrop to this investor behavior is a deteriorating regional security picture that has direct implications for the Gulf’s technology infrastructure ambitions. A Deutsche Bank report published April 13 assessed the conflict’s impact on regional digital infrastructure and concluded that demand for AI, cybersecurity, and sovereign digital build-outs is more likely to accelerate than stall as a direct result of the instability.
Deutsche Bank cited reported strikes on Amazon Web Services data centers located in the UAE and Bahrain as evidence that physical infrastructure faces tangible exposure.
The bank also flagged threats against the planned 1GW Stargate campus in Abu Dhabi, a project that represents one of the most ambitious AI compute investments in the region.
Those events have forced a recalibration of how Gulf states think about infrastructure resilience, redundancy, and the distribution of sovereign digital assets.
Despite those pressures, Deutsche Bank maintained that the UAE is unlikely to step back from the AI race. The region carries structural advantages that are difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Cheap energy, an unusually concentrated pipeline of data center developments, and sovereign wealth funds controlling approximately $5 trillion globally as of 2025 give Abu Dhabi in particular a long runway to absorb near-term disruption and continue backing global AI deals aggressively.
Gilbert echoed that framing, noting that oil price volatility triggered by the conflict can ripple into technology valuations through discount rate assumptions and broader risk appetite shifts.
The ability of Gulf investors to hold through that volatility while staying sector-exposed suggests a level of strategic patience that distinguishes the regional investor base from shorter-horizon traders elsewhere.
On the ground in Dubai, crypto industry participants report that operations have remained largely intact. Ben El-Baz, managing director of HashKey MENA, said the firm’s operations stayed broadly functional throughout the period of heightened tension.
He attributed that resilience partly to cloud-based trading and custody infrastructure that reduces dependence on any single physical location, a design choice that has proven its value under conflict-driven disruption to travel and in-person operations.
The combination of sustained investor conviction and infrastructure resilience suggests the Gulf’s positioning as a global AI and digital assets hub has not been fundamentally shaken, even if the timeline for some projects faces adjustment.
For crypto markets specifically, the region’s continued appetite for both crypto-linked equities and AI infrastructure stocks reinforces a thesis that institutional and retail capital in the UAE views the current environment as a buying window, not an exit signal.
Not Financial Advice: This article is for informational purposes only. Crypto investments are highly volatile. Always do your own research.
