Why Africa Continues to Lag Behind in Cryptocurrency Adoption
By Jeffrey Gogo Africa continues to dominate Google Trends search interest for “bitcoin,” but that has not translated into widespread adoption of cryptocurrency by users and businesses. Apart from opaque regulation and a lack of awareness, one of the major reasons for this failure has been the expansive use of mobile money on the continent. Crypto Adoption Disappoints, Even as Africa Dominates Bitcoin Search Interest According to Google Trends, the biggest search interest for bitcoin in the world is by potential investors from Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya – the three biggest cryptocurrency markets in Africa. That dominance is, however, predominantly limited to trading activities on exchanges. On a few occasions, bitcoin may be used as a means of payment, mostly to overseas suppliers. But despite that world-leading interest, Africa still lags behind the rest of the world in everyday BTC use and adoption. The cryptocurr...