Africa Enters An Age of Crypto Renaissance

Africa has seen some significant advances when it comes to crypto adoption at large, with trade volumes, crypto ownership as well as regulations all moving towards a greater integration within the continent.

African Nations Frequently Top-Ten In Searching “Bitcoin”

A recent report, done by Luno and Arcane Research, had concluded that Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, as well as Kenya are all among the top ten countries that most frequently search for the word “buy Bitcoin” on Google.

The report went into detail, describing the continent as one of the most promising regions for crypto adoption out there, if not the most promising overall. This has been attributed to Africa’s combination of low crypto adoption already existing, as well as the insurmountable domain possibility.

South Africa At The Helm

The firm emphasized the fact that Africa holds a young population, one in frequent currency failures and monetary crises. Furthermore, a large swath of the continent’s population is either underbanked or completely unbanked. This stands ripe for technology like crypto to integrate itself within the country.

Nigeria, in particular, has been a long-standing dominant player within the continent’s crypto trade volumes. However, the report has shown that in recent times, South Africa held the highest percentage of crypto ownership or use among internet users in Africa, standing at 13%. Nigeria, by comparison, stands at 11%

Peer-To-Peer Is King In Africa

When viewed worldwide, South Africa stands at the fifth place of crypto adoption among connected citizens, as well. This shows that the country’s people are keen to try its usage.

This past week, in particular, had South Africa show its second-strongest weekly volume when it came to peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions of Bitcoin. They displayed this in the Localbitcoins decentralized exchange, changing hands of Bitcoin worth almost $1.65 million in value.

This surge in activity saw South Africa managing to edge out Kenya last week, having a total trading volume of $1.95 million across both Paxful and Localbitcoins.

Crypto Regulation Becoming Relevant

Just last month, The South African financial regulator had issued a policy document. This document asserted that cryptocurrencies, and all activities relating to virtual currencies, cannot be outside the regulatory perimeter any longer.

Nigerian P2P trading is, in turn, rallying to record highs. The nation has managed to accrue $9.2 million in combined weekly trades within the P2P space.

Kenya has seen a recent spike in crypto trading as well, with trade between the BTC and the Kenyan Shilling having produced its second-strongest week on record, doing so for the third consecutive time.

Sub-Saharan Africa has seen such an increase in P2P trading volumes, that it managed to beat Latin America for the first time, as well.