Cryptocurrency adoption in South Africa has held steady over the past several months, according to the latest data from Finder.com, with 10% of South African internet users aged 18 and above now owning.
This number is down from 11% late last year.
Men are much more likely to own cryptocurrency: 65% of crypto holders are men and just 35% are women.
Bitcoin (52%) is by far the most popular coin among South African crypto owners, followed by Ethereum (24%).
James Edwards, cryptocurrency specialist at Finder, says he’s surprised adoption didn’t decline further given the considerable drop in the crypto market.
“We saw huge drops in the price of Bitcoin at the start of May and June and while we did see a reduction in the number of people holding cryptocurrency it’s not as severe as expected.
“This suggests that, while some people have sold, others are holding for the long term or may have actually bought cryptocurrency for the first time at what they consider to be a discount.”
Edwards warns new investors that investing in cryptocurrency isn’t for the faint-hearted. “Cryptocurrency is a hugely volatile industry and you should never invest money you can’t afford to lose. You should also pay attention to the cost of trading to make sure any gains aren’t negated by fees you need to pay as you buy and sell.”