TECHDIGEST – The adoption of crypto currency in Africa surged to a whopping 1200% this past year according to a report by Chainalysis. This makes Africa, the third fastest-growing crypto economy in the world.

The report revealed that Africa had recorded 1,200% growth since June last year, with the need for cheaper remittances, the rise of peer-to-peer trading, and savings needs leading the growth.
In the one year from July 2020 to June 2021, Africa received $105.6 billion worth of digital currencies. Chainalysis further disclosed that Africa also has the most dynamic market, with five countries from the region ranking in the top 20 of the Global Crypto Adoption Index. The countries are Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Tanzania.

One of the aspects of the African crypto currency market that set it apart is the prevalence of retail holders and traders. Chainalysis reports that the region has a 7% share of the market being retail and small-sized payments, higher than the global average at 5.5%.

For Africa, peer-to-peer platforms are a lifeline for the Bitcoin market. The New York-based block chain analytics company revealed that no other region uses P2P platforms more. Kenya has ranked for the past two years as the world leader in P2P volume.

This growth has been spurred by several factors, including an aversion by financial institutions in countries like Kenya and Nigeria against crypto currency platforms.

“In many of these frontier markets, people can’t send money from their bank accounts to a centralized exchange, so they rely on P2P,” Artur Schaback, the COO and co-founder of the popular Paxful P2P platform, told Chainalysis.

The P2P market is expanding even beyond the traditional platforms and into messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

Adedeji Owonibi, the founder of Nigerian block chain consultancy firm Convexity, explained, “In many of these frontier markets, people can’t send money from their bank accounts to a centralized exchange, so they rely on P2P.”

The post Cryptocurrency Adoption in Africa Surges to 1200% in OneYear – Chainalysis appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – A dedicated Nigerian blockchain hub, Convexity Blockchain Hub (CBHUB) was inaugurated in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

The hub was launched in partnership with the BNUG at its community meetup which was attended by over 120 participants.

Speaking the hub, CBHUB Founder, Adedeji Owonibi, said the project aimed at creating a hub ecosystem where people can come and focus in a space dedicated to blockchain technology, innovate and create solutions within Nigeria using blockchain.

According to him, the hub would offer blockchain solutions that have nothing to do with cryptocurrency.

A cryptocurrency forensics lab was also launched at the event. The lab boasts of world-class facilities as the result of a partnership with Chainalysis, a global leader in the cryptocurrency forensics sphere.

While Africa has the lowest numbers for illicit cryptocurrency trading globally, the launch of CBHUB’s crypto forensics lab is yet another plus in the fight against crypto scams like MTI.

Owonibi explained that Personally Identifiable Information (PII) can be aggregated from crypto exchanges, laptops, and phones through which people interact with the blockchain technology.

The hub will provide essential tools for crypto-crime investigators and security agencies constantly faced with numerous challenges while investigating crypto-based crimes and illicit money transaction activities.

The Nigerian blockchain technology ecosystem is an arena relatively unknown to a lot of Nigerians, and is often confused with its more well-known subset, cryptocurrency.

Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system.

The post Nigerian Tech Firm Launches dedicated Blockchain hub in Abuja appeared first on Tech Digest News.