2021 Crypto Market Review and 2022 Forecast
The Case of Africa
Welcome to 2022, a year where we will concentrate more on reconnecting with our loved ones in-person, especially for those of us within the cryptoverse. This will be the year of hope for all innovators championing hope for the hopeless, using cryptocurrency as a vehicle.
2021 will be remembered as one of the most outstanding years in Africa’s crypto scene. Though the continent continues to face its own COVID-19 challenges, Africa chalked up a great deal of success as far as crypto awareness and adoption were concerned.
The continent of Africa was described as the next cryptocurrency frontier, according to Chainalysis, indicating the dynamism within Africa’s crypto space and how deeply blockchain enthusiasts have accepted it.
Nigeria dominated the headlines on two counts:
1. Crypto Ban: In early February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a circular prohibiting all financial institutions from dealing in cryptoassets, which caused a strong reaction within the African Crypto space. Before this, the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission was preparing to regulate the system, a development halted by the circular. This single directive, and the general discontent that followed, generated a crypto debate in the country, thereby creating more hype for the crypto industry.
2. CBDC rollout: Nigeria again took the continent by storm when it rolled out the digital version of its currency, naira, another event that did a lot to generate visibility for the industry.
The continent again had support from Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, and rapper Jay-Z, through the formation of Btrust, an endowment fund that has 500 bitcoin to help promote crypto entrepreneurship and educational initiatives.
These efforts will be “initially focused on teams in Africa & India,” according to a tweet posted by Dorsey. Btrust activities will start out in Africa, before later expanding to India.
What made this event more of a delight across the industry was when a 22-year-old programmer, Abubakar Nur Khali, was selected as one of the board members for the trust, an indicator of the change crypto is championing in the lives of youth on the continent.
According to a Chainalysis report, 17 out of the top 20 crypto markets are in emerging markets. Kenya was the highest-ranking country in Africa, followed by Nigeria, Togo, South Africa, Ghana, and Tanzania. These are currently the leading crypto markets on the continent, three west African nations, two east African nations, and the second-largest economy from southern Africa — South Africa.
This latest year is pretty young, so what should you expect from our part of the world?
More growth on the regulation front
While the popularity of cryptocurrency continues to gain traction on the continent, the risk associated with it remains high, as many people continue to fall prey to crypto-related scams. As a result, multiple nations are gearing up to regulate the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
We expect South Africa to unveil cryptocurrency rules by the end of the first quarter of 2022, this will help protect the domestic economy against fraudsters and help position institutions to take advantage of the industry.
The Parliament of Botswana has already approved “The Virtual Asset Bill.” This legislation makes it possible for companies wishing to enter the cryptocurrency business to obtain a license from the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority of the nation’s Ministry of Finance.
2. Doubling Down on Innovation
Africa’s young people are full of potential and desire to innovate. However, they lack the funds and tools needed to help scale their ideas. The message shown in the image above was sent via WhatsApp by Jeff Mkungusi, the CEO of The Africa Blockchain Center.
Even as foreign investors begin to recognize the tech opportunities that exist down here, expect blockchain solutions built by Africans and for Africans to become more prevalent in 2022.
Africa Is on the Move
Let me finish this article using the words of Dr. Alex Cahana.
“Africa is going places. It is full of young people eager to harness the latest decentralized innovations, not only to earn their livelihood using peer-to-peer fee-less transactions, or to de-dollarize and mitigate the risk of using fiat currency.”
“Africans are looking for boundless freedom, for Uhuru, and they should not be overlooked, but rather emulated.”
This content is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute trading advice. Past performance does not indicate future results. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose. The author of this article may hold assets mentioned in the piece.
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