According to data from Google Trends, there is growing interest in Bitcoin in Africa. However, this does not translate into widespread use of the cryptocurrency by users and businesses. Moreover, regulation is not following. According to Google Trends, Bitcoin is most popular in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. However, this dominance is mainly limited to trading activity on exchanges. Despite this, Africa still lags behind the rest of the world in the daily use of BTC. This is strange because mobile payments are very popular on this continent. On the other hand, maybe this is the reason. Are the people of Africa enough with what they have already? E-payments Thanks to ordinary phones, you can send and receive money via SMS anywhere and in any country there. And this without the need for an Internet connection. In comparison, to use cryptocurrency anymore, you need a modern smartphone and access to the web. And erratic power supplies in many countries continue to hamper access to the internet, on which cryptocurrencies are heavily dependent. Vin Armani, founder and CTO of Cointext, a service that allows users to send or receive Bitcoin Cash (BCH) via SMS, for example, believes his company can compete with mobile financial apps. Unfortunately, it's unclear how many people are using Cointext today. "We are preparing for an announcement that will give us global reach," Armani told the media recently, however. "We are currently working on an integration that will give us access to smartphones across Africa. We are also working on SMS solutions for several other African countries " - explained another employee of the company. Elisha Owusu Akyaw, a young and influential investor, has made a fortune investing in Bitcoins. She believes that "cryptocurrencies should probably integrate with mobile banking platforms". And he may be right. Pyramid schemes in Africa There is, however, another problem. Africa has become a place where many "scams" and financial pyramids posing as cryptocurrencies have also emerged. For example, in Uganda, thousands of people fell victim to the D9 Club, which promised its members earnings in BTC. However, the project collapsed and the funds invested in it disappeared. Such events do not make digital currencies more popular. Such scandals should be followed by market regulations from the authorities. These, however, are not happening so far, which leaves Africa as an area with great potential that is not being exploited. Tags Africa bitcoin Bitcoin Cash mobile payments scams Uganda
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