Bitcoin Forum

http://altcoinpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/south_africa_bitcoin-660x400.jpg

While U.S. regulators build out their rigid legal framework, and China practically bans the digital currency, South Africa has shown no signs of restricting or regulating Bitcoin. Combine that with an estimated 43 million unbanked, or under-banked, and you have a country that’s ripe for a cryptocurrency explosion.

Graham Busby, Founder at Elix-IRR, believes the entire continent is fertile ground.

"Africa provides a fertile market for all firms operating in the digital currency space. Africa’s lack of regulation and openness to innovation presents firms with a huge opportunity to experiment with new and existing business models."

Busby also wrote that digital currencies could eventually replace the US Dollar in the remittance markets.

"The potential for digital currencies to replace the US Dollar as the common currency for intra-African payments would also drastically cut the high transaction costs that all cross border transfers in the region currently suffer as a result of the current settlement process involving global banks"

Prominent South African businessman and investor, Jason Swart agrees. He has hit the ground running in South Africa with the country’s first major cryptocurrency conference, Bitcoin and the New GoldCoin for SA, to be held November 29th, in Port Elizabeth.

Cellular phones are abundant in South Africa, with an estimated 80% of the population having access to a mobile device. Therefore companies willing to enter the market early and experiment might find that South Africa presents a golden opportunity for digital currencies.

Full Story: http://altcoinpress.com/2014/11/south-africa-ripe-for-cryptocurrency-explosion-bitcoin-and-the-new-digital-gold/

Right on...Africa is definitively untapped when it comes crypto currency.
Any companies who land in dealing with Africa are bound to net hefty profits; that is certain.

Excellent post OP.

Nice place to go  ;)

Thanks for the article. Is the 80% statistic all phones or just smart phones?

The majority of that 80% do not use smartphone only the most basic low budget cellphones that would be unable to cater for a digital wallet

That's right South Africa is a fertile market for Bitcoin, not just native people are living there, also people from Europe, Asia and America are living and working there. If %80 of people have their own cellphones, they can use SMS option for Bitcoin payments :)

Is there somewhere a decent article explaining how Bitcoin via SMS works?

Nowadays there are very low budget smartphones with all required functionalities to install a (lightweight)wallet.

What I am concerned is that the lack of regulation and openness to new innovation doesn't mean they wouldn't regulate later if necessary. And according to the artical, they are not open to new technology.

I don't think the mobile phone is a question for installing bitcoin wallet. If ppl found the bitcoin useful and reliable, they would look for ways to access it.

Why single out South Africa? They are a mix between 1st and 3rd world and the majority have bank accounts, with most of the mayor banks being there already. The whole of Africa and more precisely the border countries will be more open to this, being exposed to corrupt governments and corrupt banks and lending practice's.

South Africa is one of the more developed countries, and their big cities are of first world standards. The banking industry are linked to international organizations.

Mpesa is also getting more popular all over Africa, and it runs on mobile phones.

What South Africa needs is loads of ATM's and Bitcoin vending machines. I know because I have friends staying there, and they complaining, access to ATM's are only available in the biggest cities and it's limited to 1 or 2 per city now.

Who's next? Somalia?

thanks for the useful article..hehe actually i can improve my knowledge

imagine, south africa after adopting the bitcoin becomes a first world country overnight!

Unemployment is too high, and there are MANY poor people there.

The government is flaky at best, and that pulls them towards being more 3rd world than first world.

They have a thriving economy based on extracting raw resources, but the manufacturing side lack the technical 1st world characteristics.

Their workers are heavily involved in unions and these unions are politically affiliated and that push the price of manufacturing through the roof.

The government mask communism, by redistributing capitalist income to a huge social tax grant system and in the process alienating the rich people paying the tax for that purpose.

My friends are fed up and wants to emigrate to countries, where taxation is fair and distributed, with less corruption. {This is however not limited to South Africa, and happen in 1st world countries too}

 

As a South African, i can say people would be surprised at how many here in SA are catching onto Crypto Currency. Cheap android cell phones are becoming the norm as it offers an easy way to get connected to the internet, access email etc.
I have spoken to one of the local guys selling cryptos on the street using he's cell phone to exchange coins for the locals to send back home to other African countries, as allot of them work here in SA and send it back home, without the need of a bank account and all the fees associated with them. They might not be buying large amounts, but a large amount of them are exchanging for coins and its been said that the local South Africans are even developing there own lingo for use of Cryptos.
The point is, its catching on quicker here than most people realize.

I myself am doing my part as well with promoting Goldcoin, which i plan on promoting throughout the whole country, which i already started in Port Elizabeth, with another conference coming in January.

I am already well connected with the locals exchanging coins and with the more serious exchanges and with promoting Goldcoin as the new Gold Coin for South Africa (the old one being the Kruger Rand), I truly believe Crypto Currency is going to be big here in Beautiful South Africa.

Visit the Google+ Site for GoldcoinSA at : http://goldcoinsa.ddns.net

The site includes video, pictures and event schedules for Goldcoin SA conferences.

Interesting post.
As long as a sufficient amount of phones are internet enabled, this can be a hit.
As m-Pesa has shown, African countries can be willing to try out new things.

First came AltaVista, then came Google! First came Bitcoin, then came Goldcoin! The ride is just now beginning good people.

First came Bitcoin then came a million shitty scamcoins no one cares about. Get out of here with your Goldcoin hype.

Are you guys talking about this?
http://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/goldcoin/#charts

Looking at the All time price development, it doesn't look that successful ...

Edit:
So, I watched the video and took a peek at the website: What a joke.
So, it is a LiteCoin-clone. It doesn't explain, how it is better than LiteCoin. The Video tells me, it is protected against 51%-attack, but it says it is too complicated to explain how. I understand, that it might not be in the video, but if there would really be such a thing, it should be at least explained at the website and it is not.

Is using Bitcoin easier than this?
http://chinwag.com/files/images/photos/2342854191_9f4794a1fd.jpg

Africa is perfect place for bitcoin, everyone got cellphone, problem is not everyone got smartphone which is needed for bitcoin

Agree, even litecoin is shitty altcoin and  will soon die.

That is rich.
People are still hoping that the altcoin that they discovered would be the Bitcoin killer.  ;D