Despite having a slow start in the early days of cryptocurrencies, Africa’s mainstream crypto adoption has skyrocketed over the years.
According to a report conducted by a popular blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, the African cryptocurrency market has grown by over 1,200% after receiving an inflow of $105.6 billion between July 2020 and June 2021.
The recent feat saw the continent become the third-fastest growing cryptocurrency economy, with nations like Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana included in Chainalysis’ top 20 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index.
Mainstream Adoption
While Africa falls short in terms of large institutional cryptocurrency transaction volume compared to the rest of the world, its retail-sized transfers have skyrocketed compared to the global average of other regions, including Europe, Latin America, and Asia, among others.
At the moment, Africa’s retail-sized transfers between July 2020 and June 2021 are at over 7% compared to the global average of other parts of the world, which currently sits at 5.5%.
Africa’s growth in large-sized and small-sized retail transactions suggests its increase in mainstream cryptocurrency adoption among everyday users.
A quick look at the Google Trends data for cryptocurrency keyword searches from African nations that made the Chainalysis top 20 Global Crypto Adoption Index show that the volume of searches for “cryptocurrency” also increased within the period.
While May 2021 happened to be the month cryptocurrency searches from Kenya, Ghana, and South African residents peaked at 100, Nigerian citizens were more excited about digital currencies in January.
It is worth noting that Google Trends data is usually used to measure public sentiments toward a particular topic.
Crypto Interest in Africa
Per the report, the growing interest in cryptocurrency is attributed to the popularity of peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platforms, as the medium seems to be the easiest way for traders seeking to buy cryptocurrencies.
Recall that late last year, Nigeria was ranked as the second-largest P2P Bitcoin P2P market based on data gathered from leading peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange Paxful between May 2015 and November 2020.
The data showed that Nigerians within this period traded 60,215 bitcoins which was worth around $566 million at the time.
The Reason
Africans continue to adopt cryptocurrencies given the poor state of the continent’s economy.
The fiat value of different countries like Nigeria has depreciated against the United States Dollar (USD) since the beginning of the year as residents seek to save themselves from ravaging inflation.
Africa is another continent dominated by several unbanked and underbanked citizens, with cryptocurrencies coming to their rescue on several occasions.
