According to the latest Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, conducted by Finder.com, Ghana stands 9th among 26 other countries in terms of adopting cryptocurrency! The study was conducted among 27 countries, which says that Vietnam has the largest percentage of adults owning cryptocurrency – 29%. In the same list stands Ghana, with a percentage of 17% of adults owning cryptocurrency. Ghana has stood just behind countries like Australia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Malaysia, Russia, etc.; but leads in front of countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil, Norway, Canada, United States of America, New Zealand, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, etc!
Before digging a bit deeper, we should try to know about cryptocurrency in a bit more detail. A cryptocurrency, or simply crypto is a digital currency, tailored to work as a medium of exchange (like other assets) but through a computer network. Interestingly enough, cryptos aren’t reliant on any sort of central authority, such as any government or bank or whatever that is, to maintain it.
As mass people own these currencies as individual assets, the ownership records are kept in a digital ledger. The ledger is computerized and uses strong cryptography so that all the transactions are safe and secured. It’s important to understand that, cryptocurrencies don’t necessarily have to be ‘currencies’ in the traditional sense. These are completely digital, don’t have physical existence. Notably, such currencies are decentralized in terms of control, unlike CBDC.
We need to understand how this works. Usually, most cryptos use a blockchain system. The computer networks have two principal functions: the first one that processes all sorts of transactions, and the second one that maintains the database that stores all these data. Generally, the transactions are batched into ‘blocks’ which are afterward connected in an unbroken ‘chain’ in chronological order. When a cryptocurrency is minted or created before getting issued by anyone, it is considered to be centralized. After that, the decentralized control system is implemented, which allows each crypto to work through distributed ledger technology.
Now, you may wonder why so many people across the globe own such a thing that doesn’t even exist physically. Well, those who support cryptos see these as the currency of the future, and are in a race to buy them right away, in the hope they will become more valuable soon enough! Some of the supporters like the fact that there aren’t any governments or banks controlling it for management. More people are getting attracted towards it as the value of cryptos is going upwards.
Now that we have a basic knowledge about what cryptocurrency is, let’s get back to where we started. To be specific, 17.3% of the adults in Ghana own at least some time of cryptocurrency. In terms of number, it is 3.1 million adults. This is above the global average of 15% of adults owning cryptocurrency. Let’s dig a bit deeper. We know that there are multiple types of cryptocurrencies, among whom Bitcoin stands out to be the most popular one. Apart from that, we have Dogecoin, Etherum, Solana, and many more. In the case of the 3.1 million people of own cryptos, about 52.1% of them own Bitcoin as a form of cryptocurrency. 18.1% of these people own Ethereum as cryptocurrency. In the case of Dogecoin as the form of crypto, almost 19.7% of the adults own it. 13.4% own Ripple, another type of cryptocurrency.
The study shows that young people are the ones who are mainly interested in owning cryptocurrency. Globally speaking, 56.1% of the total owners are aged between 18 to 34, 29.5% are aged between 34 to 54, and the rest of the 14.4% are of 55+ age. If we look into Ghana’s situation, the percentage of owners aged between 18 to 34 is 70.4%! 16.6% are aged between 34 to 54, and the rest of the 13% are of 55+ age.
Very often, Africa is ignored as a potential market for cryptocurrencies. Little do they notice that Africa is a pretty big market because of its high inflation rate compared to the other regions of the world. Those facing inflation tend to choose cryptos over the traditional currency because of its decentralized system. This is probably one of the reasons why the inflation rate in Ghana has been decreasing for a couple of years!
Hence, it’s clear why more and more Ghanaians are getting interested in cryptocurrency. Logically speaking, it indeed is convenient for economies like the one Ghana has. The whole of Africa is perfect to adopt this system. Most importantly, one doesn’t need to buy cryptocurrencies. One can even invest in cryptocurrencies as well. The best thing is, buying or selling things in exchange for cryptos is becoming popular day by day. Some sellers sell commodities or other kinds of stuff, and in exchange, they charge in cryptocurrencies. Finance giants like Paypal have started a new section, where they allow transactions via cryptocurrency. Undoubtedly, this sector is full of potential, and that justifies so many Ghanaians adopting this interesting mode of the transaction!