Kenya does more peer-to-peer crypto trades than anywhere else in the world

According to the recent Global Crypto Adoption Index 2021 report by Chainalysis, Kenya leads the world when it comes to crypto transactions in terms of peer-to-peer (P2P) trading.

The East African country’s peer-to-peer exchange trade stands ahead of the over 150 surveyed countries, ahead of other African superpowers like Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana.

The report had used an index that accounted for the purchasing power parity of the country’s currency while also putting the Internet penetration of the country into consideration.

Weakening Kenyan Shilling is pushing people to crypto 

It was deduced that the weakening national currencies in these countries played a role in pushing P2P trading higher. In Kenya for instance, the Kenyan Shilling has depreciated by 6.3% against the US dollar since January. This could grow much higher because the economy of most of these countries is still battling with the delta variant of the coronavirus epidemic.

As stated in the report, “many emerging markets face significant currency devaluation, driving residents to buy cryptocurrency on P2P platforms in order to preserve their savings.”

Apart from the falling value of their national currency, another reason for the growth is tied to the faster and cheaper way cryptocurrencies allow for remittances back home.

The Chainalysis report stated that “cryptocurrency gives those residents a way to circumvent those limits so that they can meet their financial needs.” Bearing in mind that international transactions in Africa can be expensive sometimes.

You will recall that we previously reported that global cryptocurrency adoption has grown by 880% in the last year. According to our report, emerging markets like Nigeria, Kenya, and the rest led this surge.

The report stated that “peer-to-peer options have been credited for the surge in crypto adoption in emerging markets, such as Kenya, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Venezuela rank high in the index. Their transaction volumes on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms are huge, caused by the inaccessibility of centralized exchanges. The emerging markets set this record despite issues such as currency devaluation that they face and spending limits.”

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