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Peer-to-Peer crypto volume exploding in Africa

Photo of: Joseph Stone
by Joseph Stone

Crypto is much more than just a speculative asset. Many cryptos – including Bitcoin – are designed to improve a failing banking system and offer concrete solutions to certain problems. It’s always interesting to see the significant use of Bitcoin in countries with faltering economies. Check out some figures on this subject, based on a study by Usefultulips.

The Usefultulips website maps the countries with the biggest increase in p2p bitcoin exchanges. Let’s look at the last 180 days.

Unsurprisingly, North America is in a strong position and has the largest volume of bitcoin exchanges with a total of $545 million. The African continent is in second place with $409 million, just ahead of Asia-Pacific ($331 million). The rest of the ranking is as follows:

South America with $283 million ;

Russian Federation and Ukraine with $228 million;

Europe with 211 million dollars;

The Middle East / North Africa with 29 million dollars;

Australia / New Zealand with $21 million.

However, the results become even more interesting when we consider the dynamics. Over the last 180 days, the African continent has seen the biggest growth in Bitcoin exchanges. Most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa have seen an increase of around 15%, and up to 30% for the countries in North Africa. This figure is all the more significant given that at the same time, North America is seeing a drop of about 19% in exchanges. In May 2021, Sub-Saharan Africa even recorded a trade volume equivalent to $17 million, 50% better than in May 2020!

Savaldor made news recently by becoming the first country to use Bitcoin as one of the country’s legal currencies. Since then, this announcement has been emulated. Some countries are thinking about doing the same. Among them is Tanzania.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan recently asked the Central Bank of Tanzania to look into the issue of digital currencies. Meanwhile, Nigeria remains a Bitcoin stronghold even though the government has put some restrictions in place. Recently, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that “the people of Nigeria will lead the way for Bitcoin.