Crypto index ranks SA as 2nd in the world for Bitcoin adoption

Sensational headline aside, South Africa has a high cryptocurrency adoption rate according to the Finder Cryptocurrency Adoption Index. Of the internet users surveyed who said they own cryptocurrency, 56 percent owned Bitcoin, 31 percent hold Ethereum and 25 percent have Ripple.

Cardano lost the biggest market share between October and December 2021 crypto ownership surveys

With the global average for BTC ownership among crypto owners at 39.1 percent, Bitcoin popularity among South Africans highlights the country’s relatively immature crypto market. Dogecoin, for instance, outranks Solana by a significant margin, with its popularity thought to be driven by Elon Musk hype in 2021.

Further insights show that men are far more likely to own crypto than women – 14 percent of male respondents own crypto as opposed to the 8.5 percent of women – with general ownership proving more popular among the 18-34 age group who own just shy of half of the crypto held by South Africans.

A key finding is the relationship between the perceived economic transparency in a country and the crypto positivity. Nigeria leads the surveyed nations with 81 percent of respondents expressing their positivity, but the country also has the lowest perceived economic transparency.

What we can learn from this is that citizens in countries plagued by widespread corruption are looking to crypto as a reliable mechanism for wealth storage.

Analysts predict robust growth for crypto investment in 2022 with DeFi and Web 3.0 projects said to attract more participation in the short term.

Read more: [Opinion] 2021: The Year Cryptocurrency Matured

Featured image by RODNAE Productions/Pexels