Banxa Is Entering the South African Market
Banxa is entering the South African market, allowing customers to purchase digital assets using the local payment method.
As part of our exciting Geo-Expansion Program, we are pleased to announce that Banxa is entering the South African market. Customers from South Africa are now able to buy digital assets in a fast and secure manner through our services.
Over the years, Africa has frequently been dubbed as “the next frontier for cryptocurrency”. There are a couple of reasons for that, with the most prominent being financial infrastructure and insufficient financial inclusion, as well as local currency devaluation and instability.
It is estimated that up to 65% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is unbanked. The limited penetration of traditional banking services is mostly due to the high transaction costs, financial illiteracy, and financial institutions being hard to reach from rural areas, among other reasons. According to a 2020 Chainalysis report, “Retail-sized transfers (transfers under $10,000 USD) make up a larger share of Africa’s cryptocurrency activity than any other region, and the need for remittances is a big part of this.”
The devaluation and volatility of the local currencies also don’t make them a good store of value. Although one of the strongest African fiat currencies, even the South African Rand (ZAR), lost almost 50% of its value against the US dollar in the past 10 years.
All of this is the reason the crypto adoption rate in Africa is faster than in the more developed regions.
Buying Crypto With Local Payment Method in South Africa
Over the last few years, blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been gaining momentum in South Africa. According to Finder Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, around 4.2 million Internet users in SA own crypto. With the crypto ownership rate at 10.7%, South Africa is in front of Canada and the United States, with 10.2% and 9.5% respectively. Bitcoin is the most popular coin in South Africa.
With the rising crypto adoption and popularity, the South African government recently proposed new crypto regulations, which include establishing regulatory bodies “to safeguard the crypto owner.” Banxa in general as well as our Geo-Expansion Program focus on helping and supporting our business partners and communities to globally scale their strategic network into new markets in a compliant way.
In light of that, Banxa is launching online bank transfers and local payment method in South Africa, via dLocal. “Banxa’s offering of the local method of payments and leveraging online bank transfers in South Africa will significantly help our business partners to reach a wider community of customers that accelerates and boosts their business growth,” said Jan Lorenc, Managing Director and Head of Geo-Expansion Affairs at Banxa.