Eli Ridder | @EliRidder

A survey completed in April found that 47 per cent of inclined South Africans who have never previously owned cryptocurrency are planning to invest via direct purchases or through other means in 2018.

“Of the survey respondents who do not own or who have never owned cryptocurrency, almost 50 per cent said they plan to invest in an aspect of cryptocurrency or crypto mining in 2018,” the MyBroadband 2018 Cryptocurrency Survey reported.

South Africa has the strongest economy on the African continent, and despite recent actions by the country’s Revenue Authority to impose taxes on cryptocurrencies”, digital finances such as Bitcoin are booming nationally, according to local media.

Twenty-five per cent said they will invest in crypto, 15 per cent said both the digital money and mining and 7 per cent said just mining in their responses to the survey.

However, MyBroadband does note that the survey was taken by over 1,000 of its readers and represents the opinions of largely “tech-savvy South Africans” towards digital money, with 78 pre cent of the respondents saying they already owned or had owned cryptocurrency.

Africa, Crypto

Many analysts say that the continent of Africa is an attractive environment for cryptocurrencies to take root as its residents aim to avoid expensive and outdated banking systems utilized by sometimes corrupt governments.

Weighed down by third world economic infrastructure across many of the African nations, many have utilized the smartphone as a tool for a means of payment, and thus tapped into currencies such as Bitcoin.

The continental crypto community in February launched Nuru Coin, a multinational currency aimed a facilitating trade and providing financial services to those that would otherwise never open a traditional bank account.

An analysis produced by the Coin Telegraph details the approach to crypto by many African governments, but makes clear that the region is far from any unity on the topic.

In the developed world, most governments are allowing crypto to continue without a ban, but other administrations. such as India, have banned digital money, sometimes in favour of a regulated currency.

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