Topic: South Africa, leading world in crypto adoption, a high-potential crypto market? (Read 326 times)

Saw the list and I am surprised that both South Korea and Japan isn't even in the top 10 of the list. That even a country who is known for not being friendly in cryptocurrencies, India, is part of the top 10 either the survey is entirely inaccurate or we are missing something here as I really didn't expect first adopter countries would be so far in the range especially Japan who is almost at the end of the list.

in parts of the African continent, South Africa is the leading country among the others. regarding infrastructure, the internet is indeed the main tool in cryptocurrency, so it will grow if it has good infrastructure

I think the answer is no, although many countries in Africa are ready to accept crypto the infrastructure itself is not well prepared yet, the economic stability is really bad, so although there are many demand and the adoption rate is high in South Africa the transaction volume will be very little, to lead crypto adoption we need a strong and stable country

Thats the problem about poornes i think last year better way to earn money through Crypto was scamming the newcomer, i Got scammed  myself at the beginning. But the way they use money (mainly by their cellphones) is a previous step to getting full involved in the crypto world. surely a lot of families live through the bounties

The post says "the highest crypto ownership RATIO." If you read the article, you wouldn't have missed that the record talks about Africa having the biggest percentage (not population) of internet users that own "any form of cryptocurrencies", not Bitcoin alone.

So please don't get the post wrong.

I think a lot of companies try to make South Africa to join crypto, but maybe most of people can't afford to buy it, so i don't know how will be mass adoption there.

I am not sure whether Bitcoin can be used to store money. It is very volatile, and the prices have gone down from $20,000 per coin to $4,000 per coin (-80%) in less than two years. For storage purpose, gold or US treasury bonds may be a better option.

I am confused why Cryptocurrency very popular in South Africa. maybe someone can explain. even though many other countries were very enthusiastic and wide open development and good support from the government. if its true we hope South Africa can be a good example where cryptocurrencies can build countries and people.

Africa is really a promising region for the development of the infrastructure of cryptocurrency, crypto payments and all that is needed to use cryptocurrency. Many crypto projects have plans to expand their activities specifically to countries with developing economies. Crime in Africa is indeed at a fairly high level, but I believe that this has a low impact on the development of the crypto industry, for example, the USA also has a high crime rate.

Another thing is that few days I read that they installed first ATM in Johannesburg.   Where I live. 2014 was year when ATMs got massively installed. There are rare getting installed now anymore. To put country on top where  were almost no ATMs even at this time is a bit strange to me.

A claim like this means nothing, until they can identify ALL Bitcoin users based on their country of origin. A lot of Bitcoin users are totally anonymous and you cannot trace their country of origin.  

Yes, you can look at exchange data, but as we have seen recently, a lot of the exchange data are being manipulated and the trading volume is mostly faked.  

Interesting list, if the stats were true that would confirm that in mid-income countries crypto adoption has a tendency to be high.

But I would not over-interpret the list. First, because it's based on the number of "internet users". So countries with a low Internet penetration are more likely to be seen in the first ranks.

Second, there are several countries lacking in the list where the probability of a high Bitcoin penetration is high. I am almost sure that the percentage/penetration of crypto users is highest in Venezuela, as there Bitcoin and Dash are even used to buy everyday needs like bread. The country, however, does not appear in the list.

Third, how to measure the number of crypto users? For example, EU countries like Germany and the Netherlands have the highest amount of Bitcoin nodes compared to the total population. But in high-income countries like these, it's more likely for users to run a full node. In South Africa and Venezuela, most would run light wallets instead. As they communicate with the network via middlemen, we would need the data of all of those middlemen to see the number of users.

This list is likely referring to the absolute numbers, where the US surely ranks first or at least "among the first". But the list the OP linked is the percentage of internet users. The US has a nearly 100% Internet penetration and 300 million inhabitants, so it's not strange that it's considered the first country in terms of Bitcoin hodlers. However, the Usethebitcoin article is a bit poorly written, I would like to see more sources and hard facts there. And as I wrote, I think real numbers are very difficult to get.

I think that right now, the countries with the highest adoption potential will still be the ones where the government is actively trying to regulate crypto businesses, and legitimising crypto as a viable form of payment. These are countries which exchanges are most likely to go to in the future, and governments are able to gain tax revenue from, like Malta.

South Africa could be one of those countries in future. Though the stats suggest that currently this is more likely happening from a grassroot level rather than because favourable government regulation, which isn't bad for sure.


I don't think that it's fair to assume that the BTC is used in illegal ways, or necessarily on the dark market. Political and economic instability prompts people to invest in alternative assets that are independent of the fiat system to seek a store of value, which bitcoin certainly is one.

Media is really moulding how people think towards crypto. A lil bit occurrence of illegal activity, they will make it as a big deal. People should know how to filter the information that they are seeing from these media channels. By the way, I didn't know that South Africa is the leading region in crypto adoption. I thought, Europe or Asia. If the figures are true, I hope crypto will cater them in a positive way. Change their lives for the betterment.

African countries have a history of having very poor and selfish governments, so no, it doesn't seem to be possible. It's time for people to stand up and distance themselves from a system that keeps them poor and uneducated.

Bitcoin is the right tool to help people accomplish this goal, the only thing from here is that people need to realize what Bitcoin brings to the table. The first thing most people see is a speculative asset, and that needs to change.

That being said, people not fully understanding Bitcoin is a good thing for now, because let's be honest here, Bitcoin isn't ready to onboard them on a serious scale. LN will eventually, but eventually isn't right now....

It stated that 'South Africa holds highest crypto ownership ratio'

The statistics showed the percentage of internet users who uses any form of cryptocurrency and not Bitcoin alone.

I don't know how do they conduct such surveys but it was said 'Internet users' so maybe the basis of this was all about IP addresses, what if the people who uses crypto in the most populated countries uses VPN and choose South Africa as their virtual location, who knows.

This kind of statistic are ......    I remember not so long ago in one on top was Turkey.  Probably in reality top country is some really small country.  It is really impossible to know. Also other question is what crypto is. Most understand as crypto all that is listed on coinmarketcap. But There are listed so different things.

This is unfair statement from the new portal, South Africa has got increased number of users but this increased number won't go higher than the userbase of US, China or Japan who are the leaders of the cryptocurrency network in terms of adoption, usage and acceptance level. Most of the African countries now have got good number of users, as a part South Africa too seems progressive.

Maybe the report is not accurate and didn't get their facts straight. I still think that US is still the number HODLer of cryptos.


I disagree, what they need is the right government, not corrupt, is this possible in Africa? Debatable I would say. So I don't think that they will boom just like that. If takes hundreds of years to fully consume their natural resources and make them poor, and I'm sure it will take years as well to grow.

Perhaps due to lack of interest and actual use cases for bitcoin? Many Americans still want to meddle with the proven investments they can get their hands on to, like stocks and derivatives etc. whereas in South Africa, they might want to explore the actual benefit of using bitcoin that's why a lot of people own the said crypto on the said country. While the Americas and other parts of the world have advanced and a lot of great infrastructures already established for bitcoin, still countries like Venezuela and S. Africa, with unstable governments, are more likely to utilize and invest in bitcoins due to the freedom it gives them.

My thought is that it's natural for people to adopt cryptos there more, because of several factors. I'm not talking about South Africa in particular right now, but generally about African countries. For one, they usually have f*cked up economies with frequent fiat hyperinflation cases and low trust to the authorities. People in, say, the EU, might not care much about cryptocurrencies, because of having a stable economy and believing that Euro will be okay no matter what. Another factoris that the banking system did not get a chance to become well-developed there. There's still a significant amount of adults without bank accounts, so it's not about choosing cryptos over banks for some people, it's about choosing something with technology over paper money. As for South Africa, it is one of the most developed countries on the continent, so it might've guessed that skipping that choosing cryptocurrencies now is a chance to become a strong player on international relations in the future. Western countries are too blinded by their conservative structures and already existing power for that.

Really, I didn’t thought South Africa will be no1 in position of holding crypto.I thought it was america.This is surprising for Because I didn’t thought they are so much advanced in cryptocurrency.But This is really good for them.South country’s will surely be benefitted from crypto  currency.And We'll see many development in south africa through crypto currency.                     

I do not believe much in this research, the US has more buying power and facilities to buy bitcoin, how could they lose to South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil? china has many miners, how would they be losing to southern africa?

10 Countries with the Most Bitcoin Hodlers

The United States is number one

If crypto currencies will be made mainstream and all fiat will be disregard, the country of Africa will boom in a fast momentum. But if the market fails, I mean all currencies will be zero value, even my mind can't picture what could happen to Africa seeing it's current economic situation. They a poor country and will be even poorer if things go wrong, they are making an imaginable gamble here.

Most criminals are still using cash and other traditional laundering methods.  The percentage of criminals using crypto is a drop in the bucket.  The crime excuse is just something used by media to demonize bitcoin and associate it with nefarious activities. 

African countries with unstable governments is exactly why Bitcoin is such an amazing alternative. If these countries weren't unstable, the economies there were thriving, why would they need Bitcoin? Bitcoin is an answer to these and many more problems.

As for the dark markets, who cares? Criminals, regardless of where they are, use that whatever offers them the most privacy and convenience. Bitcoin certainly offers convenience, but it sucks hard in the privacy department. It's way more likely that criminals prefer coins like Monero for their illegal activities. Bitcoin's popularity amongst criminals is taking a dive in the deep, and this is just the beginning. Even mainstream media outlets start to figure that out.

Africa as continent offers a lot of potential with how certain countries within that continent made a major jump in terms of technology. People here tend to understimate them, but they just like we enjoy our daily use of our mobile phones, they have mobile phones they can use in combination with crypto too.

What do you expect? crypto is global so I won't be surprised if countries have started to see the potential of it, including South Africa. North America and Asia has been the prime mover, but the rest of the world will surely catch up. Although there is still a lot of bad publicity regarding crypto, and some governments are against it, but it will just be a matter of time before everyone will join in this revolution whether what part of the globe you are in, it's inevitable.

I think South Africa is still not a good place to crypto and blockchain to grow. there is also a relatively poor country and it is not eligible for large-scale development.
they can keep many coins but that only gives meaning to their value. In South Africa, inflation is also rising and buying crypto is the best choice for them.

When it comes to crime rate this high, then theres always a probability but who knows on how they do handle it.

South Africa is a very unstable country, with a high probability of political instability. Also, the high crime rate means that a disproportionate amount of BTC may make its way to the dark market.

Well it could not be proven just because you have posted a link for a certain news claiming about it. As we all know that there are lot of fake news spreading in the internet. However, I do believe that South Africa has launched so many ICO that could be found in the altcoins bounties section and I was even able to join one project but unfortunately it failed due low amount of fund collected from the crowd.

South Africa holds the highest crypto ownership ratio according to Hootsuite's Digital Report 2019.

Full news HERE.

Is this a sign that the crypto market in South Africa has higher potential than the crypto markets in other countries? In the stats, China, US, and Japan are way behind South Africa and other African countries in terms of the number of internet users that own cryptocurrencies.

Your thoughts?