South Africa and Nigeria have the largest market for cryptocurrencies in Africa – Report
A new report has ranked South Africa as the country with the largest market for cryptocurrencies in Africa in 2022.
Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, published the report in partnership with the famous American management consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and crypto-focused investment firm, Foresight Ventures.
Titled: “What Does the Future Hold for Crypto Exchanges,” the report examined the cryptocurrency market size in Africa, ranking South Africa as the country with the largest market, followed by Nigeria.
Furthermore, the report pointed out that South Africa has the largest market on the continent due to the country’s “more advanced financial infrastructure and fiat-to-crypto payment rail.”
One interesting highlight from the report revealed that South Africans consider crypto an alternative investment, while Nigerians use it mainly for savings.
In an interview with Nairametrics, Gracy Chen, the Managing Director of Bitget, gave her insights into the African market and its growth potential.
When asked how the limited regulatory oversight of the crypto market affects participation in the African continent, Chen said, “Right now, regulatory efforts in the market have proven not to have a great impact on adoption/trader activities. But we could see P2P trading, for instance, become very popular in Nigeria as regulation banned commercial banks from dealing in transactions with crypto exchanges and related accounts in early 2021.”
Regarding why Nigerians mostly use crypto for savings, Chen said, “The report includes different studies in regions. Data in foreign exchange markets shows that Nigeria’s recent currency (Naira) performance has experienced a steady decline. For most people in Nigeria, keeping money in foreign currencies like the US dollar is a more effective way of saving for future interests than saving in local currency. They could use different cryptocurrencies, the relatively volatile ones like BTC, ETH, and people can also invest in stablecoins, which are quite stable and linked to USD.”
The report concludes Africa’s cryptocurrency centralised exchange trading accounts for less than 1% of the spot and derivative trading worldwide.
“We expect strong growth in crypto adoption in Africa. However, derivatives may lag given their limited use in traditional markets,” the report stated.
