Kenya este liderul african în adopția criptografică (raport)

A study conducted by the United Nations (UN) determined that 8.5% of Kenya’s population own digital assets, which makes up around 4.25 million people. This makes the country a leader in cryptocurrency adoption across Africa, while globally, Ukraine ranks first, with 12.7% of its residents being HODLers.

Apetitul crescând al kenyenilor pentru cripto

Kenya – an African nation considered a tech and innovation hub on the continent – has been tied to the cryptocurrency industry for years now. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 crisis, struggling citizens of the country avansat to local digital assets (such as Sarafu) to aid their monetary issues.

Conform to a recent UN study, Kenyans’ interest in crypto has increased in the following years, and currently, it is the leading African nation in terms of HODLers. The report stated that 8.5% of the domestic population, or over 4.2 million people own digital assets. In comparison, 7.1% of the South African residents and 6.3% of Nigerians have bitcoin or alternative coins.

It is worth noting that Kenya’s crypto adoption rate surpasses top economies, including the United States (8.3%). However, it is hard to establish the value of digital currencies held by Kenyans due to the lack of supervision in the sector:

„Rentabilitatea din tranzacționarea și deținerea de criptomonede este, ca și în cazul altor tranzacții speculative, extrem de individuale. În general, ei sunt umbriți de riscurile și costurile pe care le prezintă în țările în curs de dezvoltare. Sectorul nu este reglementat în țară și rămâne în mare parte nereglementat chiar și în lumea dezvoltată.”

The UN’s research found Ukraine is the global leader, with 12.7% of its residents having exposure to crypto, while Russia is second with 11.9%. Venezuela and Singapore round up the top 4 with respectively 10.3% and 9.4%.

Este Kenya înclinată spre Bitcoin sau CBDC?

The national currency of the country (shilling) has lost a significant chunk of its value against the US dollar over the past years. On that note, last year, Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge opined that switching to bitcoin could ease some of Kenya’s economic troubles:

„Decizia noastră de a trece la Bitcoin este atât tactică, cât și logică. Moneda noastră a fost întotdeauna sacul de box pentru FMI, care susține întotdeauna că șilingul din Kenya este supraevaluat... Pierdem prea mult pentru că cineva de la FMI s-a trezit pe partea greșită a patului. Bitcoin va pune capăt acestui lucru.”

Earlier this year, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) a susținut that a potential CBDC could bring certain benefits to the domestic banking infrastructure and enhance cross-border payments. The institution even released a discussion paper to examine whether locals support such a product.

It is worth mentioning, though, that bitcoin and CBDCs are very different assets. While the primary cryptocurrency is decentralized, CBDCs would be fully monitored and issued by governments and central banks, leaving less privacy to consumers.