Does it surprise you that in one of the world’s most crypto-friendly markets, investors are moving back toward gold and oil?

According to eToro’s UAE Retail Investor Beat survey, commodities have overtaken crypto as the country’s most widely held asset class. The enduring appeal of gold and oil is not simply a rational response to market performance. It is the familiarity.

People consistently favor assets they understand, can visualize, and relate to culturally. Economists call this “familiarity bias”— the tendency to prefer investments that feel psychologically close and socially recognizable.

In the UAE, like other countries in the region, few assets feel more familiar than gold.

Long before the federation’s formation in 1971, gold functioned not merely as a commodity but as a social infrastructure. It represented dowries, portable wealth, family insurance, and intergenerational savings. Across Gulf and South Asian communities that helped shape the UAE’s commercial identity, gold jewelry was simultaneously an adornment and emergency reserve.

That legacy still shapes investor psychology today.

“Gold has traditionally been viewed as a store of value and a hedge against inflation,” says George Naddaf, Managing Director at eToro MENA. “That’s how UAE investors see gold in general, while oil is closely tied to the regional economic narrative.”

Unlike abstract financial instruments, gold possesses physical permanence. It can be held, stored, worn, inherited, and trusted. That tangibility matters more than markets often acknowledge.

Crypto, by contrast, remains intangible in every sense. Its value is algorithmic, decentralized, and detached from everyday lived experience. To many regional investors, that abstraction introduces emotional distance.

“Retail investors in the UAE are naturally drawn to gold and oil markets for several reasons,” says Naddaf. “The first is the long cultural and economic connection with both commodities.”

COMMODITIES OVER CRYPTO

What makes this shift particularly striking is that it is happening in one of the world’s most crypto-friendly markets.

According to the fifth edition of eToro’s UAE Retail Investor Beat, a survey of 1,000 UAE retail investors, commodities have overtaken crypto as the most popular asset class.

About 56% of UAE retail investors now hold commodities such as gold and oil in their portfolios, up sharply from 47% in August 2025. Crypto ownership, meanwhile, remained flat at 54%.

The shift appears closely linked to geopolitical uncertainty. Among the 80% of investors who have either adjusted or plan to adjust their portfolios in response to tensions in the Middle East, 56% are increasing allocations to precious metals, while 43% are buying more energy commodities.

This reflects a broader emotional recalibration around what constitutes safety, resilience, and familiarity in volatile times.

“UAE retail investors are showing they can read the room and quickly adjust their portfolios in response to evolving macro conditions,” says Naddaf. “With ongoing geopolitical tensions, investors are actively looking for opportunities amidst the volatility in commodities and related sectors.”

Globally, however, the picture is more fragmented. eToro’s broader Retail Investor Beat survey across 13 countries found that while commodity ownership is rising, enthusiasm for AI equities and large-cap tech remains dominant in Western markets.

OIL AS NATIONAL IDENTITY

If gold represents personal security, oil represents collective identity.

The UAE’s transformation into a global commercial powerhouse is inseparable from its hydrocarbon sector. Oil revenues funded infrastructure, education, healthcare, aviation, ports, and urban development at extraordinary speed. 

For Emirati investors, oil is tied to the country’s foundational success story.

“We’re all living in the UAE, and we see oil everywhere,” says Naddaf. “The UAE is one of the big exporters when it comes to the oil industry.”

This creates what psychologists describe as an “identity-linked asset preference”—a tendency to trust sectors associated with national prosperity and competence. In Silicon Valley, that confidence may center around technology equities. In Germany, industrial manufacturing carries similar symbolic weight. In the Gulf, it is oil.

GOLD DOMINATES THE “SAFE HAVEN” INSTINCT

Interestingly, global online investor discussions reveal growing skepticism about “safe havens.” On Reddit investment forums, many younger investors increasingly describe gold as volatile rather than defensive, while comparing Bitcoin and gold as competing stores of value.

The eToro findings reveal just how dominant gold remains in the regional investor psyche.

Among commodity investors, 88% hold gold, making it by far the most widely owned commodity asset. Oil follows at 47%, silver at 41%, and natural gas at 29%.

Interestingly, investors appear almost evenly divided in why they buy gold. Fifty-three percent cite its role as a long-term store of value, while another 53% are motivated by expectations of further price appreciation.

“Gold and oil have experienced notable volatility in recent months, largely influenced by ongoing developments in the Middle East,” says Naddaf. “Both assets carry particular cultural and economic importance in the UAE.”

Investor optimism around these commodities remains remarkably strong. According to the survey, 92% of UAE retail investors expect oil prices to rise over the next six months, while 84% expect gold prices to increase. Nearly half expect oil prices to surge by more than 15%, while 57% anticipate gold climbing by over 10%.

Globally, that bullishness is mirrored by institutional behavior. Reuters recently reported that Hong Kong is attempting to revive gold futures trading amid soaring geopolitical volatility, while central bank demand continues pushing gold to record highs internationally.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF UNDERSTANDABLE MARKETS

There is another reason gold and oil continue to dominate investor imagination: they are easier to explain.

“The retail investors often see price movements in oil and gold as easier to understand because they are driven by visible macro factors such as geopolitics, interest rates, and global demand,” Naddaf explains. “They understand the fundamentals behind both markets. They know how to connect macroeconomics to the movement of these assets.”

Understanding these assets is especially important when times are uncertain.

Behavioral economists have long argued that investors gravitate toward assets they can mentally model. The more cognitively accessible an investment feels, the safer it appears. Gold rises during inflation fears. Oil reacts to geopolitical tensions. These relationships are intuitive and culturally reinforced.

Crypto, meanwhile, often feels opaque. Even experienced investors struggle to explain the long-term valuation logic behind many digital assets. Blockchain ecosystems evolve rapidly, narratives shift overnight, and volatility can seem disconnected from traditional economic indicators.

This complexity makes it harder for people to feel comfortable with crypto.

“So when I meet investors here in the region, talking about gold and oil is very similar to talking about any familiar topic within the region,” says Naddaf. “It’s less complicated for them to understand and maneuver within these markets.”

THE GLOBAL RETURN TO “REAL” ASSETS

The UAE is not alone in rotating back toward tangible assets. Across global markets, investors are quietly rotating back toward what many fund managers now call “real assets.”

The World Gold Council recently reported that global gold ETFs recorded their seventh consecutive quarter of inflows, with Asian markets leading demand amid inflation concerns, geopolitical instability, and weakening currencies.

In Japan, where investors have traditionally favored conservative cash-heavy portfolios, the World Gold Council noted that geopolitical uncertainty and rising inflation have reignited demand for gold as a strategic hedge.

Meanwhile, sovereign investors globally are increasing gold allocations amid fears of prolonged geopolitical fragmentation and US dollar weakness. An April 2026 pulse survey by Invesco found that central banks and sovereign wealth managers are increasingly treating gold as a structural reserve asset rather than merely a temporary crisis hedge.

A MORE MATURE INVESTOR CLASS

One of the most striking shifts underway is the increasing sophistication of retail investors. Financial literacy, market participation, and portfolio diversification have all accelerated over the past decade.

“Nowadays, investors are more mature when it comes to knowledge and experience,” Naddaf says. “The financial literacy overall is phenomenal.”

While investors may instinctively gravitate toward gold and oil, many are simultaneously allocating capital to global equities, technology stocks, the banking sector, renewable energy, and, increasingly, cryptocurrencies.

The eToro study underscores this diversification trend. Investment exposure to the energy sector rose from 31% to 40% between August 2025 and early 2026. Renewables also climbed from 21% to 25%, and notably emerged as the sector most investors plan to enter over the next three months.

“Growing interest in renewables shows that retail investors are not only focused on the immediate picture,” says Naddaf. “In the UAE, where non-oil sectors already contribute more than 70% of GDP, clean energy is part of a much bigger diversification story.”

THE NEW GULF INVESTOR

Historically, cryptocurrencies occupied a speculative corner of investor psychology—volatile, high-risk, and emotionally detached from traditional wealth preservation strategies. But in the UAE, that perception is slowly changing.

“Three or four years ago, the safe haven for investors was only gold,” says Naddaf. “Today, cryptocurrencies are also stepping in.”

Younger investors increasingly view Bitcoin and other digital assets as complementary stores of value rather than speculative side bets.

“What we’ve seen recently is that investors are treating cryptocurrencies mainly like Bitcoin and Ethereum as a store of value against inflation,” Naddaf says. “Those who loved Bitcoin at $100,000 still love Bitcoin at $80,000 or $60,000. You don’t see them panicking out because they believe in the next cycle.”

The younger Gulf investor is interested in maintaining liquidity, speed, and flexibility through digital investment platforms.

“The new generation of investors is more tech savvy,” Naddaf says. “They don’t want traditional investment in physical things. They want full control over their liquidity.”

This generation moves fluidly between asset classes, rotating from commodities to tech stocks, from banking to crypto, from renewable energy to long-term passive investments. Their portfolios are increasingly dynamic rather than static.

And yet, even among younger investors, gold and oil retain symbolic gravity.

The shift underway in the UAE is therefore not a replacement of traditional assets with digital ones. It is a layering process. Gold remains emotionally trusted. Oil remains culturally resonant. Crypto is gradually earning legitimacy.

“Investors are not going all in on gold,” Naddaf says. “They know how to diversify with the correct dose.”

The UAE investor of 2026 is not choosing between tradition and technology. They are layering both. Gold still carries emotional trust. Oil still represents regional confidence. Crypto is gradually earning legitimacy. What is changing is not the desire for stability, but the definition of what stability looks like in a digital economy.