South Africa, leading world in crypto adoption, a high-potential crypto market?

[d5000]

Interesting list, if the stats were true that would confirm that in mid-income countries crypto adoption has a tendency to be high.

But I would not over-interpret the list. First, because it's based on the number of "internet users". So countries with a low Internet penetration are more likely to be seen in the first ranks.

Second, there are several countries lacking in the list where the probability of a high Bitcoin penetration is high. I am almost sure that the percentage/penetration of crypto users is highest in Venezuela, as there Bitcoin and Dash are even used to buy everyday needs like bread. The country, however, does not appear in the list.

Third, how to measure the number of crypto users? For example, EU countries like Germany and the Netherlands have the highest amount of Bitcoin nodes compared to the total population. But in high-income countries like these, it's more likely for users to run a full node. In South Africa and Venezuela, most would run light wallets instead. As they communicate with the network via middlemen, we would need the data of all of those middlemen to see the number of users.

I do not believe much in this research, the US has more buying power and facilities to buy bitcoin, how could they lose to South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil? china has many miners, how would they be losing to southern africa?

10 Countries with the Most Bitcoin Hodlers

This list is likely referring to the absolute numbers, where the US surely ranks first or at least "among the first". But the list the OP linked is the percentage of internet users. The US has a nearly 100% Internet penetration and 300 million inhabitants, so it's not strange that it's considered the first country in terms of Bitcoin hodlers. However, the Usethebitcoin article is a bit poorly written, I would like to see more sources and hard facts there. And as I wrote, I think real numbers are very difficult to get.

[Kakmakr]

A claim like this means nothing, until they can identify ALL Bitcoin users based on their country of origin. A lot of Bitcoin users are totally anonymous and you cannot trace their country of origin. <Perfect example of this, might be Satoshi with his 1 million+ coins> 

Yes, you can look at exchange data, but as we have seen recently, a lot of the exchange data are being manipulated and the trading volume is mostly faked. <Note : I am not saying that this is applicable to South African exchanges> 

[Febo]

Another thing is that few days I read that they installed first ATM in Johannesburg.   Where I live. 2014 was year when ATMs got massively installed. There are rare getting installed now anymore. To put country on top where  were almost no ATMs even at this time is a bit strange to me.

[Dasha88fed]

Africa is really a promising region for the development of the infrastructure of cryptocurrency, crypto payments and all that is needed to use cryptocurrency. Many crypto projects have plans to expand their activities specifically to countries with developing economies. Crime in Africa is indeed at a fairly high level, but I believe that this has a low impact on the development of the crypto industry, for example, the USA also has a high crime rate.

[Apes]

I am confused why Cryptocurrency very popular in South Africa. maybe someone can explain. even though many other countries were very enthusiastic and wide open development and good support from the government. if its true we hope South Africa can be a good example where cryptocurrencies can build countries and people.

[Netnox]

I don't think that it's fair to assume that the BTC is used in illegal ways, or necessarily on the dark market. Political and economic instability prompts people to invest in alternative assets that are independent of the fiat system to seek a store of value, which bitcoin certainly is one.

I am not sure whether Bitcoin can be used to store money. It is very volatile, and the prices have gone down from $20,000 per coin to $4,000 per coin (-80%) in less than two years. For storage purpose, gold or US treasury bonds may be a better option.

[Btchunter3333]

I think a lot of companies try to make South Africa to join crypto, but maybe most of people can't afford to buy it, so i don't know how will be mass adoption there.

[hayleewilson]

The post says "the highest crypto ownership RATIO." If you read the article, you wouldn't have missed that the record talks about Africa having the biggest percentage (not population) of internet users that own "any form of cryptocurrencies", not Bitcoin alone.

So please don't get the post wrong.

[drgomez89]

Thats the problem about poornes i think last year better way to earn money through Crypto was scamming the newcomer, i Got scammed  myself at the beginning. But the way they use money (mainly by their cellphones) is a previous step to getting full involved in the crypto world. surely a lot of families live through the bounties

[Indrawan77]

I think the answer is no, although many countries in Africa are ready to accept crypto the infrastructure itself is not well prepared yet, the economic stability is really bad, so although there are many demand and the adoption rate is high in South Africa the transaction volume will be very little, to lead crypto adoption we need a strong and stable country

[andriarto]

I think the answer is no, although many countries in Africa are ready to accept crypto the infrastructure itself is not well prepared yet, the economic stability is really bad, so although there are many demand and the adoption rate is high in South Africa the transaction volume will be very little, to lead crypto adoption we need a strong and stable country

in parts of the African continent, South Africa is the leading country among the others. regarding infrastructure, the internet is indeed the main tool in cryptocurrency, so it will grow if it has good infrastructure

[Harlot]

Saw the list and I am surprised that both South Korea and Japan isn't even in the top 10 of the list. That even a country who is known for not being friendly in cryptocurrencies, India, is part of the top 10 either the survey is entirely inaccurate or we are missing something here as I really didn't expect first adopter countries would be so far in the range especially Japan who is almost at the end of the list.