Africa is perhaps not the continent which springs most readily to mind when considering the spread of new technologies. South Korea, yes, Switzerland, sure, but South Africa? So it may surprise readers to learn that Africa’s southernmost country has a vibrant and fast-growing crypto community. Indeed, South Africa’s 55 million residents logged more Google searches for “Bitcoin” than any country on earth last year. And that’s just the beginning.
Luno is currently the most popular crypto exchange in South Africa, but traders are required to undertake a Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) process before they can buy crypto with rand, the local currency. It appears things may be about to change as some serious players are beginning to get a foothold in the country. Coindirect have begun offering rand-crypto trading pairs for the top coins, and offers wallet support for a range of currencies and ERC20 tokens. In addition, the South African asset management company Sygnia have recently gone public with their plans to launch a crypto exchange in the country.
South Africa has become a hub for blockchain tech and research, and a number of projects with international scope are being established there. Status and Loom Network are just two of the more high profile start-ups in what is one of the fastest developing crypto communities in the world. There have also been reports of the South African Reserve Bank exploring the potential for the use of distributed ledger technology in streamlining payment processes, using JP Morgan’s Quorum blockchain. It seems that the country’s relaxed attitude towards regulation, combined with a widespread interest in blockchain tech, has contributed to making South Africa a hotbed of crypto creativity.
