Kenya Overtakes US as World Leader in Crypto Trade

Business
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Kenya has emerged among countries to watch globally after a report by Chainalysis ranked it top in peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency trading.
The report published on August 18, indicated that Kenya was the leading country in the trade with many businesses locally now accepting cryptocurrency, mostly Bitcoin, as a form of payment. The study took into account the number of cryptocurrency deposits as well as its users. For a while, the United States and other global leaders have been at the forefront of the trade, fuelled by dollar-billionaires like Elon Musk.

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graphic representing Bitcoin

Speaking to the press, BitcoinKE co-founder David Gitonga observed that peer-to-peer trade has grown locally due to the lack of well-defined regulations of the sector.

He noted that his site records an average of 70,000 users per day.

"In Kenya, peer to peer is actually the easiest way for people to get into cryptocurrencies.
Right now there are no centralized exchanges so most people opt to go the peer-to-peer way.
“These exchanges are not controlled locally. For example, they cannot be shut down. It is much easier for people to just transact between each other,” stated Gitonga.

Other countries that rank highly on the peer-to-peer front include Nigeria, Vietnam, and Venezuela.

"Several countries in emerging markets, including Kenya, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Venezuela rank high on our index in large part because they have huge transaction volumes on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms when adjusted for PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) per capita and internet-using population.
“Our interviews with experts in these countries revealed that many residents use P2P cryptocurrency exchanges as their primary on-ramp into cryptocurrency, often because they don’t have access to centralized exchanges,” read the report in part.

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CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge

Previously, the Central Bank of Kenyan had issued a warning against cryptocurrency noting that it was an unregulated currency that is not issued or guaranteed by any government or central bank.
“This is to inform the public that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are not legal tender in Kenya and therefore no protection exists in the event that the platform that exchanges or holds the virtual currency fails or goes out of business,” warned Central Bank.
Some of the risks associated with the trade include customers ability to lose money without any legal redress, high volatility in value of virtual currencies thus exposing users to potential losses as well as exposing traders to unfair online targeting or money laundering because they are untraceable.

Kenya also ranked fifth globally in 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index behind Ukraine, Pakistan, India and Vietnam which was leading in the pack.

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Looks like it’s a 3rd world affair…

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It is.

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The denominator has been adjusted by factors such as internet access, per capita etc. Without such adjustments, the 1st world are the clear leaders. But kudos to Kenyan for being financially savvy and adventurous.

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It’s also a 2.5 trillion dollar asset class that the US treasury is keen on taxing to fund their infrastructure expansion.

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Its crypto… very difficult to regulate and tax.

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You don’t know what you’re saying.

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its decentralized and difficult to track… lakini ju wewe ni crypto expert with your head firmly up your ass wacha nisiendelee.

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Mtu anaendelea na matusi badala ya Ku counter argue ni mtu burr kabisa.

All you had to do is google.

Link ya mafala

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The point I was making is that even if you put regulations in place doesn’t mean it will translate to results on the ground. Just like the war on drugs. Waliunda stiff laws and punitive jail sentences. Enforcement ilikua DEA CIA na all those other orginization with fancy acronyms lakini it was still a big failure.

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You think DEA and CIA genuinely cracked down on drug trade?

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This is the point I’m trying to make, what makes you think if crypto laws are put in place zitakua enforced vizuri.

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Which is the best stable crypto?

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Tether is being phased out. USDC is the incoming one. Rumour is that the banking cartel is behind USDC

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Teach me how to invest with Tether

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I wish I could.
But am in a different geographical location hence I wouldn’t know how you’d get money into an exchange in Kenya.
I believe there should be more than a few videos on YouTube to aid in that.
Plus, being your hard earned money, I am of the opinion that it would serve you better if you researched and make yourself confident of what you are doing. It’s a very volatile market and you can lose your money very easily.

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On the other hand, you don’t invest in a stable coin. It doesn’t grow since it’s value is relatively the same. I.e. a dollar.