Share of South African crypto owners grows to 11.3%, 56% of crypto owners hold Bitcoin – Emerging Markets

The number of South Africans surveyed who own crypto increased slightly from 10.3% in October 2021 to 11.3% in December 2021. This ownership rate now places South Africa 21st out of the 27 countries whose internet users participated in the survey.

South African ownership rate below global average

According to the results of the latest Finder survey, 11.3% of the 2,003 South African internet users surveyed said they owned cryptocurrency. This cryptocurrency ownership rate is said to be slightly higher than that of the United States (10.5%) and Sweden (9.8%).

Nevertheless, as the survey results show, South Africa's recent cryptocurrency ownership rate is below the global average, which increased from 11.2% in October to 15.5% in December 2021. Of the 27 countries surveyed, South Africa is now positioned at number 21.

When it comes to the popularity of various cryptocurrencies, the survey results show that 56% of crypto owners in South Africa own Bitcoin. With this proportion of Internet users who own Bitcoin, South Africa is the second best of the 27 countries. However, the results also seem to indicate that other cryptocurrencies are on the rise.

“Between now and the last survey, the number of crypto owners surveyed said they owned it Bitcoin fell from 73.5% of respondents saying they owned Bitcoin in October to 56% in December,” the Finder survey report explains.

Altcoins popularity is growing

According to the results, Ethereum is the second most popular cryptocurrency with a share of 31.5%. This ownership rate, 7.1% higher than the global average of 24.4%, makes South Africa the country with the eighth-highest proportion of internet users who own Ethereum. In third place is XRP which is owned by 25.8% of surveyed users, while Dogecoin and Solana are in fourth and fifth place.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that of those who said they own crypto, 62% are men and 38% are women. According to the survey report, this means that South African “men are approximately 1.6 times more likely to own crypto than women.”

On the other hand, the survey found that 48.7% of South Africans aged 18 to 34 are crypto owners. This figure is 16 percentage points higher than that of South African owners aged 35 to 54.

What do you think about the results of the latest Finder survey? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara is an award-winning journalist, author and writer from Zimbabwe. He has written extensively about the economic struggles of some African countries, as well as how digital currencies can provide an escape route for Africans.

Photo credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, WikiCommons