African crypto adoption has exploded in 2020, prompting fears of a heavy-handed regulatory response
2020 has seen an acceleration in African crypto adoption, with the continent emerging as the second-largest region for peer-to-peer (P2P) trading, and two African nations ranking in the top eight of the Chainalysis crypto adoption index.
However, the booming growth has caught the attention of Africa’s financial regulators, sparking concerns that a rush to introduce heavy-handed oversight could quell innovation in the local crypto industry.
Nigeria has led the continent’s growth in 2020, posting weekly P2P volumes of between $5 million to $10 million, followed by Kenya and South Africa with between $1 million and $2 million a week each.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, a representative of top P2P exchange Paxful stated that Africa has been its strongest growing region in 2020, noting there was also dramatic growth in smaller economies like Ghana, and Cameroon.
Centralized exchanges have also reported a spike in trade activity, with Luno reporting $549 million worth of combined volume from Nigerian and South African customers last month — a 49% increase compared to the start of 2020.
