Africa Is Predicted To Be The Largest Cryptocurrency Ecosystem, What Is The Explanation?

Africa makes Bitcoin an alternative payment tool (Source: CoinGape)

JAKARTA – The African continent has reportedly adopted cryptocurrencies massively. Currently Africa is touted as the leading country in adopting cryptocurrencies. The countries of the world will turn their attention to Africa.

The information was conveyed by Paxpful CEO, Ray Youssef. For your information, Paxful is a peer-to-peer lending platform.

“Everyone should pay attention to Africa now,” Youssef told CoinDesk on Friday, June 4.

Youssef also stated that the move was a “tremendous moment” in the development of cryptocurrencies in the global sphere.

“The leading global cryptocurrency adoption is in Africa,” he added.

According to the report, one of the African countries that has the highest rate of crypto adoption is Nigeria. The country is also the largest Paxful market today. Paxful is recorded to have 1.5 million users with a trading volume of 1.5 billion US dollars.

The increasing use of Bitcoin (BTC) in Nigeria is the result of complicated exchange rate policies, inflation of Naira's national currency, and most adults there are unbanked. Ultimately, Bitcoin is used as an alternative transaction tool.

Crypto users in Nigeria prefer to use Paxful for crypto transactions because they don't have to deal with local banks.

“This is just a sign of things to come. We are just starting to see what Africa can do,” Yousef said of Nigeria's young generation who are progressive in building an alternative financial system.

He also added that new crypto markets are emerging in several African countries such as Cameroon and Ethiopia. The two countries are predicted to be Nigeria's tough competitors in the next few years regarding crypto adoption.

On the other hand, Paxful hopes its users can grow up to 142 percent and trading volume up to 142 percent in 2021. In addition, Paxful also targets user growth in Ghana by 72 percent and trading volume by 84 percent.

"People ask me why I'm so crazy about Africa," Youssef said.

"The reason is, I've been there, I've met people, I've seen the problems they have. It makes a lot of sense once you're there," the Paxful boss added to CoinDesk.