Number of crypto users in Africa grew 2500% last year

Africa is becoming increasingly popular for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH). In fact, a new research report from cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin reports that the number of crypto users and transactions will have skyrocketed in Africa by 2021.

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In countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Senegal and more, the number of crypto transactions increased by a whopping 1,250% to 2,670% in the past year. It's a huge jump from 2020, but it's still only 2.8% of the global total.

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The average number of monthly transactions in these African countries increased by 1,386.7% between January 2021 and January 2022, reports KuCoin. The number of users also increased significantly, peaking at 2,467.2% during the same period.

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88.5% of crypto transactions are international

Africans use crypto mainly for international payments and settlements, the survey shows. As much as 88.5% of all crypto transactions in Africa are cross-border transactions.

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This is because crypto's transaction costs are very low compared to fiat currencies. KuCoin reports that in most cases, users pay less than 0.01% of the total amount in transaction fees. Also, crypto can be transferred instantly; it is often a matter of a few milliseconds, says KuCoin. End users also don't have to worry about their assets being temporarily frozen during the transfer process.

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It also has to do with the fact that crypto in Africa is often used to pay so-called "microworkers" amid the region's high unemployment rate. KuCoin reports that unemployment in South Africa is currently over 34%.

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Finally, according to the study, speculation with crypto is also popular, but mostly among wealthy Africans. Johnny Lyu, CEO of KuCoin, said:

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"The adoption of digital assets in Africa will continue to grow exponentially. African countries currently have the highest adoption rate of crypto in the world, even higher than the largest regions like the United States, Europe and Asia."