Cryptocurrency is creating waves around the world including Africa, which is the second-largest continent in the world. But it was pushed to the rags because of the low infrastructure development and poverty. But now things are gradually and steadily changing, for the better.
Cryptocurrency has started to change the financial dynamics of the world. It can be seen as Bitcoin’s popularity has increased exponentially in the past few years. Africa has also shown considerable interest in the world of cryptocurrency.
There are numerous reasons for the popularity of cryptocurrency in Africa, however we have compiled a few of the most notable reasons and they are as follows.
An Opportunity
A report mentioned that Africans were known as the residents of the “unbanked continent “with more than 60% of the people having no access to any bank account. This inaccessibility led the Africans to find an unorthodox method for the transfer of money. Therefore, they found mobile banking. Since then, Africans have been using mobile banking for their concerns related to money transfer and storage.
Because of this reason Africa was labeled as a global leader in mobile banking in the year 2017. Africans were already aware of the dynamics of mobile banking hence they saw cryptocurrency as an opportunity to expand their technological literacy.
This is one of the main reasons why cryptocurrency has been so popular in Africa recently.
Ease of Access
Most of the Africans found the traditional ways of banking very inconvenient as they had to go to other places to perform transactions and on top of the bank transactions, there was a certain amount of transaction fee. Moreover, the traditional bank transfers were often slow and delayed – making it hard for the people.
On the other hand, the cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin had an enormous speed of transactions and had no extra charges for the transfer. Therefore, the affordability and convenience of cryptocurrency have been a significant reason as to why cryptocurrencies are getting more popular with every passing day in the African countries.
The Rand
Recently, the Rand proved to be one of the most volatile currencies in the world. Since March 2020, the price of the Rand has gone down with an enormous percentage against The US dollar. The volatility of the Rand made the African investors worry about their resources and their declining value. Hence, most of them started to explore cryptocurrency to make them more secure financially.
The Interest of the Public
As per some sources, it was revealed that the Africans had the greatest number of Google searches for cryptocurrency in 2019. This explains why cryptocurrency has been gaining popularity in the region. The Africans are eager to learn about this method of asset building. African investors have started to invest in Immediate Bitcoin, an auto-trading platform to kickstart their journey.
Bitcoin Ownership
As of recently, it has been noticed that the Africans showed a steady increase in a new holder of the Bitcoin ordered. In simpler terms, more and more people are now accessing this new technology and getting their hands on cryptocurrencies.
Conclusion:
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have started to become more popular with each passing day in Africa. The main reason behind this recent popularity is the growing number of Bitcoin wallet holders in Africa who are aiding to increase the popularity. Similarly, Google recorded that the African continent had the greatest number of Google searches for the word Bitcoin in 2019.
Moreover, the Accessibility of cryptocurrency has been the leading factor behind its popularity in Africa. As people find it very easy to access their transactions through their mobile phones while sitting at home.
However, the growing popularity does come with its challenges. Since the African government is yet to centralize the cryptocurrency. Therefore, the investors might face some problems regarding Bitcoin mining because of their infrastructure.
