CoinJournal conducted a global survey with the intention of highlighting the most successful crypto countries in the world, with South Africa ranked 10th.
The study ranked the countries by their number of crypto startups, investment companies involved in crypto, estimated realized profits, and the number of crypto owners based on the most recent data available as of November 2022.
Cryptocurrency has been one of the fastest growing industries over the past decade, moving from a simple form of electronic money to a regulated global currency – including in South Africa as of December 19, 2022.
According to a questionnaire conducted by global exchange platform TripleA, crypto awareness in South Africa is rapidly rising, with 86% of adults having heard of cryptocurrencies – a 20% increase compared to 66% in 2021.
The survey also found that most South African cryptocurrency owners are in the 18 to 44 age group (83%). Only 7% of them are 55 and older. This suggests that South African millennials mainly own cryptocurrencies.
Of those who own cryptocurrencies in South Africa, the survey found that 46% own more than R10,000 worth of crypto assets, while a significant 12% own more than R100,000.
Bitcoin is the dominant cryptocurrency owned by South Africans (79%), followed by Ethereum (45.28%) and Ripple (28.30%), according to TripleA.
Interestingly, the majority (52%) of South African respondents said they already use cryptocurrency for purchases, suggesting that cryptocurrency is becoming a more common form of payment.
The attitude towards crypto in South Africa is very optimistic. However, the survey found that the critical inhibiting factor for mass adoption in the country is a lack of knowledge – 68% of respondents cited this as the reason for not investing much in the currency.
Rankings
CoinJournal’s Most Successful Crypto Countries in the World study rank the nations by giving each country a score out of ten based on the above indicators.
Unsurprisingly, the United States is the No. 1 crypto country in the world, with a perfect score of 10.
The US ranked high for almost all factors, including 1,992 cryptocurrency startups and an estimated realized crypto profit of $46.9 billion, CoinJournal said.
It also operates the most investment companies, with more than 4,600 involved in crypto, with an estimated 46 million Americans owning cryptocurrency (13.74%).
The United Kingdom ranked second for the most successful crypto countries, with a score of 9.21.
According to CoinJournal, the UK currently has 886 active crypto startup companies and the highest realized profits in cryptocurrency after the US, at $8.16 billion.
The UK currently has 617 cryptocurrency companies operating in the country and is constantly building its crypto business, with several crypto startups launching in London, CoinJournal said.
Germany is the world’s third most successful crypto country, with a score of 8.6 out of ten. Startups play an essential role in developing new technologies, and Germany still has some way to go regarding crypto startups, according to CoinJournal.
However, recent research has shown that Germany needs to provide a competitive startup environment for blockchain startups to grow, Coin Journal added.
Germany currently has 404 crypto startups and 148 crypto companies operating in the country. Germany realized $5 billion in cryptocurrency gains, trailing the US and UK significantly.
The top three is followed by France in 4th place, Vietnam, Australia, Canada, South Korea, Japan and South Africa in 10th place.
CoinJournal scored South Africa 7.26 out of ten, with 67 crypto startups and 59 investment firms currently trading crypto.
Despite ranking last overall, South Africa ranks 5th in terms of most crypto owners by country. According to CoinJournal’s study, South Africa has 7.7 million crypto owners — representing 12.45% of the population.
Given the popularity of cryptocurrency in South Africa, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has amended the appendix to the Financial Intelligence Center Act (FICA) designating crypto asset service providers as “responsible institutions”, which came into effect on December 19, 2022 . reported MyBreadband.
As responsible institutions, service providers are obligated “to FICA” customers. Elsewhere in the world, this is called “know your customer” (KYC), MyBraodband said.
Basic FICA/KYC requires responsible institutions to collect and verify copies of customer identity documents and proof of address, such as a utility bill.
South African FICA legislation also includes monitoring provisions to help prevent and prosecute criminal activity, adds MyBroadband.
These are important controls that countries should have, as South Africa learned in the third quarter of 2022 when the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) warned that we could be graylisted due to weaknesses in our systems.
The tables below show the top 10 most successful crypto countries worldwide and the top 10 most crypto owners by country, from CoinJournal.
Read: Rand disabled by energy crisis