Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation,
dropped below $18,000 per digital coin from its record high of $68,000 in
November last year.
After witnessing a free fall for weeks, Bitcoin finally
rebounded past $20,000 per digital coin on Monday, around a 16% gain over the
weekend, as reported by Business Insider India. The
global market cap of cryptocurrencies sank below $850 billion, which recently
hovered over $1 trillion.
Despite the market trend, Bitcoin and
cryptocurrency adoption has grown by over 880% in the past year. At that rate,
Bitcoin and other cryptos are indeed gaining increased attention due to the
fact that they are used as an investment tool in lieu of other good options. In
many parts of Africa, crypto holders have been at the forefront of adopting
innovative P2P payment methods as a means of leapfrogging options like bank
transfers and those digital payment options.
This brings up an obvious question. Which African
country has the most crypto holders and users? According to Triple A, here are the top 5 African countries with
the most cryptocurrency holders.
Top 5 African
countries with the most cryptocurrency holders
1. Nigeria - 13
million
According to Triple-A, Nigeria has more
cryptocurrency holders than any other African country. Yes, in Nigeria, more
than 10 million people own cryptocurrency despite the ban by the country’s apex
bank. Nigeria is also the #1 country worldwide in terms of the number of people
searching for “Bitcoin” and “Crypto” keywords on Google.
2. Kenya -
4.5million
Second on the list is Kenya, with an estimated
4.5 million people owning cryptocurrency. Kenya leads the way in terms of
holdings and blockchain-related transactions and ranks among the top African
countries for trading volume on peer-to-peer platforms. Kenya also ranks within
the top ten worldwide on the topic of “cryptocurrency” on Google.
3. South Africa
- 4.2million
South Africa ranks third on the list, with
over 4.2 million people owning cryptocurrency. According to Triple A, 17% of
South Africans shared that they used or owned at least one form of
cryptocurrency as it’s highly preferred to banks, largely because of higher
yields. In addition, the demographics of crypto holders in the country are
skewed towards male and younger generations. Men account for 60% of crypto
investors, with 42% of crypto investors being aged 18 to 30.
4. Egypt -
1.7million
The demand for bitcoin in Egypt has surged as
over 1.7 million Egyptians have distributed more than half of their wealth into
assets like Bitcoin and other crypto-assets. One of the main reasons behind
this high adoption rate is that Egyptian crypto traders are looking for
additional sources of income (either through) trading or holding bitcoin. As
the country’s fiat currency faces devaluation, the number of Egyptian crypto
users is expected to rise as investors search for higher-profit currencies.
5. Ethiopia -
1.1million
Despite having over 1.1million crypto holders
in the country, Ethiopia recently made headlines for its crackdowns on
cryptocurrency trading. Early this month, the Ethiopian central bank released a
statement calling Bitcoin “illegal,” prohibiting the use of any other currency
except the Birr for all transactions. It has adopted this stance because it
believes that virtual currency is used to conduct informal financial activities
and money-laundering in the country.
Source:Pulse