It looks like the bitcoin and crypto presence in Africa is growing like crazy.
Africa and Bitcoin Are Becoming the Best of Friends
To be fair, Africa has always loved its bitcoin, but as of late, the continent is proving to be a hotspot for bitcoin adoption, and there are more companies based on bitcoin and crypto activity that appear to be popping up all over the place.
One such company is Yellow Card, a bitcoin-buying firm based in the country of Nigeria. Recently, the firm landed as much as $1.5 million in seed funding from enterprises such as Andreessen Horowitz, Celo and Polychain. The firm’s chief executive and co-founder Chris Maurice issued a statement explaining:
Crypto will go mainstream in Africa long before any other part of the world. We’ve been breaking our own records over and over.
He further stated that the company is adding approximately 20,000 users per month and has increased its monthly trading volume by more than $20 million.
There seems to be a lot riding on Africa in the crypto space. Recently, Jack Dorsey – the CEO of both Square and popular social media platform Twitter – announced that he was going to spend anywhere between three and six months on the continent of Africa attempting to bring bitcoin’s services to the people. There hasn’t been a lot of news surrounding that trip, and it’s not even clear if the trip has occurred yet. It’s likely COVID-19 got in the way.
Still, the fact that Dorsey chose Africa as the region to push bitcoin adoption says a lot, and it’s likely because Africa is still relatively undeveloped, and its governments and financial systems are subject to widespread corruption. With so many people unable to access traditional financial services, bitcoin and crypto presents many different options for them to enjoy.
Now, Yellow Card has announced that it’s opening doors in both South Africa and Botswana. Maurice further stated his reasons for believing why crypto will ultimately go mainstream on the continent:
There’s no better place for bitcoin to thrive than Africa. Crypto will go mainstream in Africa long before the west or any other part of the world. Anyone with a smartphone and place to vendor can act as an onramp and offramp from fiat to crypto.
Recently, a report issued by Arcane Research stated:
Africa is one of, if not the most, promising regions for the adoption of cryptocurrencies.
More Ownership Throughout the Country
Evidence for this can be found in the country of South Africa, which according to a recent poll, suggests that bitcoin ownership may be as high as 13 percent within the nation’s borders. This is considerably higher than the worldwide average of only seven percent ownership.
Yellow Card was founded in the year 2016 by both Maurice and his business partner Justin Poiroux.
