Half of South Africans would invest in crypto if banks provided such services: survey

Sellers’ consumer survey found that 53% of South African participants have little or no knowledge of cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, almost half of respondents said they would be more open to the digital asset space if local banks provided such services.

South Africans need more education

Johannesburg-based management company – Merchants – determined that only 14% of South Africans have significant knowledge of the cryptocurrency industry. 23% of participants remained neutral, while the vast majority (53%) said they had limited or no understanding of the matter.

Not surprisingly, young people are more aware of digital assets than the older generations. Those aged 18 to 24 have better knowledge than any other demographic group.

According to the survey, crypto adoption in South Africa can be increased if domestic banks embrace the asset class and offer educational programs to users. Almost one in two participants said they would be more likely to invest in bitcoin or altcoins if local financial institutions offered such services. Mat Conn – Group GRO at Merchants explained the impact of the possible move:

“There is a real opportunity for banks to get involved in cryptocurrency when it really starts to take off on the continent, rather than waiting until it is more established – when consumers are likely to have a preferred platform or partner that they have built as trust.”

South Africa’s crypto adoption ranks second in Africa

Despite insufficient knowledge on the matter, a significant proportion of the local population has already distributed some of their wealth in crypto.

A recent study conducted by the United Nations revealed that 7.1% of the county’s population, or approximately 4.2 million people, are HODLers. Thus, South Africa became second on the continent, falling behind Kenya, where the cryptocurrency adoption rate is 8.5%.

Earlier this month, Kuben Naidoo – deputy governor of the country’s central bank – stated that digital assets, particularly bitcoin, could bring many benefits to the monetary system. Nonetheless, he argued that there is a lot of hype in the space, and called for the implementation of appropriate regulation.

Such rules are expected to come into force within the next year, after which cryptocurrencies will be classified as financial assets.

“We are not in the mood to regulate it as a currency, as you cannot go into a shop and use it to buy something. Instead, our view has changed to regulating (cryptocurrencies) as financial assets. There is a need to regulate it and bring it into the mainstream, but in a way that balances the hype and with the investor protection that is critical, the executive said.