“Africa will define the future (especially the Bitcoin one)”, is what Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, tweeted at the end of his trip to Africa in November 2019. Dorsey previously came out in favor of Bitcoin, and it’s clear that he thinks that crypto could find a strong foothold in the market on the continent. So, what’s the deal with Jack Dorsey, Crypto and Africa? Let’s take a look.

The future of crypto is in Africa

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have struggled to really find their place in the developed world — largely because fiat payments are controlled by a set number of institutions corruption and there’s infrastructure in place to facilitate fiat transactions with ease.

Contrastingly, the developing world has great need for a peer-to-peer payment system that can navigate the digital world. Peer-to-peer is nothing new to the African continent, with countries like Nigeria and Kenya using peer-to-peer financial systems for thousands of years. Nigeria has Esusu, South Africa has Stokvel, and Kenya has Chama, all of which are used to facilitate peer-to-peer payments and savings, but on a grassroots level.

Crypto itself is also pretty established in many countries in Africa, however restrictive crypto laws can make trading on exchanges quite difficult. According to Decrypt, Nigeria has restrictions against sending money outside the country, so the lack of Bitcoin liquidity is the first obstacle that needs to be solved to fully introduce Bitcoin to Africa.

Africa is a developing continent that can offer a lot to the cryptocurrency industry. Nigeria and South Africa have the largest economies, with a $400.6 billion and $317.568 billion GDP respectively (as of 2018).

With burgeoning economies, a willingness to adopt crypto, and quickly developing countries, Africa is the ideal continent for the future of Bitcoin.

Where does Jack Dorsey come in?

What’s the deal with Jack Dorsey, Crypto and Africa?

“Sad to be leaving the continent… for now,” Dorsey tweeted on 27 November. “Africa will define the future (especially the Bitcoin one!). Not sure where yet, but I’ll be living here for 3–6 months mid 2020.” Dorsey’s trip to Africa began in early November, and he travelled to Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. While in Nigeria, he attended a Bitcoin meet up, and met Bitcoin business owners on his trip to Ghana.

The thing is, that Dorsey’s actually spot on about Bitcoin’s future being in Africa. In the last two years, three of the top five countries conducting Google searches on Bitcoin have been in Africa.

“In emerging markets like Africa, the shallow reach of traditional money systems means there’s less resistance to new financial technology,” Nate Hindman, the head of growth at Bancor, Decrypt. Developing countries have long been pinpointed as the ones who will really benefit from Bitcoin and crypto, and it seems like Africa is already on its way.

Binance, Belfrics, Paxful, and Bancor are all expanding into Africa, and that’s just the start.

People situated in Africa already have access to an international trading platform that allows traders to buy and sell Bitcoin, and 1000 other cryptocurrencies. The peer-to-peer marketplace Vertex.Market services more than 200 countries around the world.

The future is in the Southern Hemisphere

What’s the deal with Jack Dorsey, Crypto and Africa? Well, he seems to have the right idea about the incredible potential for Bitcoin and crypto development that the continent has to offer. With growing economies, less resistance to non-traditional financial structures than developed countries, and existing peer-to-peer payment systems that have been around for thousands of years, many countries in Africa are poised to define the future of the crypto asset industry.