Fintech - October 13, 2021

Report Shows that Bitcoin is the Most Purchased Cryptocurrency in Africa

Africans are flocking to world's most expensive cryptocurrency, despite economic hardships on the continent

October 13, 2021

3 min read

Luno, a major player in Africa’s cryptocurrency ecosystem has today, reached a milestone with 9 million in over 40 countries on its platform. This follows the company’s impressive addition of one million new customers in just over four months. The company has revealed bitcoin is getting purchased the most in Africa.

South Africa is one of Luno’s strongest markets with over 30% of the one million new customers added since June are based in the country.

Whilst commenting on the milestone, Luno’s GM for Africa, Marius Reitz said, “The average value of first deposits made by our million new customers is around R550 (USD37). Most new customers (67%) bought Bitcoin, while 43% bought Ripple and 20% bought Ethereum. Of the new customers, 37% are aged between 18 and 24, and gender splits align with trends in financial services – almost three quarters (71%) are male”.

Interesting to see that despite the high cost of bitcoin, risks and the prevailing economic hardships in Africa, the people continue to key into the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency.

Marcus Swanepoel, a former investment banker, and Timothy Stranex, who previously worked for Google as a software engineer, founded Luno in 2013 with a focus on providing a simple, safe and easy tool for buying cryptocurrency online and on mobile.

“As we hit the 9 million customer mark, it is a fitting symbol that Luno’s logo now adorns an iconic building in Cape Town’s unofficial financial district on the foreshore. Staff numbers have swelled to over 600 across the UK, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Australia and Singapore, and we are actively hiring over 60 specialists,” says Reitz.

Reitz notes that it took five years for Luno to build a base of its first one million customers in 2017. “Luno’s growth has accelerated significantly since then. In the last year alone, we have added over 3.6 million new customers,” he says.

Luno was acquired last year by US-based DCG, the world’s largest blockchain investor and is targeting a billion customers by 2030.