What continent is home to the second-largest bitcoin (BTC) market, a government-introduced central bank digital currency (CBDC) and crypto market growth of more than $100 billion in the past year?
Maybe you would say North America, with its bevvy of crypto companies. Or in Latin America, with adoption of bitcoin as legal tender in countries like El Salvador. Or perhaps Asia comes to mind, where crypto markets continue to grow at a fast pace.
But the answer is Africa.
Elizabeth Rossiello is the CEO and founder of global fintech AZA Finance (previously BitPesa).
According to the “Africa Report,” in September 2021 the continent’s crypto market reached a significant milestone when sub-Saharan users achieved more than $80 million in cryptocurrency holdings – more than the total of U.S. users. Morocco, a North African country with a gross domestic product ranking well outside the world’s top 50 (the U.S. is first), has one of the highest crypto-holding populations, with 2.5% of people owning some form of digital currency.
