Kenya Tops the Chart in Terms of P2P Crypto Trading, Here’s What is Fueling the Adoption

The latest survey by Chainalysis revealed that Kenya ranked the highest on the peer-to-peer exchange trade index, globally. The Global Crypto Adoption Index 2021 surveyed 154 countries to analyze worldwide crypto adoption, where the Kenyan citizens topped the charts with their record-breaking P2P trading stats. Furthermore, Kenya and Nigeria rank 1st and 2nd in Africa, respectively, along with 5th and 6th globally in the overall crypto adoption.

P2P crypto trading rising  because of inflation

However, the exception P2P crypto trading stats are unfortunately the result of Africa’s depreciating currency that has led to inflation. According to the Central Bank of Kenya, the country’s currency has depreciated by 6.3 percent against the US dollar since January, this year.

“Many emerging markets face significant currency devaluation, driving residents to buy cryptocurrency on P2P platforms to preserve their savings,” according to the report.

Nevertheless, the African currencies have not witnessed any substantial loss of value this year, yet. That speculates African citizens’ shift to P2P crypto trading as an effort to make affordable and easy international transactions. P2P exchanges help with avoiding the prominently skyrocketing costs of international money transfers in Africa.

“Cryptocurrency gives those residents a way to circumvent those limits so that they can meet their financial needs,” stated the report’s authors.

Chainanlysis has shared that the report does not reveal the absolute trade volumes per country. However, the company has used the transaction data from two of the largest and most popular P2P platforms, LocalBitcoins and Paxful, which should be enough to give a closely accurate approximation.

“While this means that we aren’t capturing all P2P value, we believe these two exchanges are popular enough for their metrics to act as an overall approximation,”, mentioned Chainalysis.

Kenyan adoption of crypto may be inevitable instead of its financial conditions, but it has also given the citizens a chance to change their economic lifestyles. The 26-year-old farmer in Kenya, Emmanuel Kahindi is using the Kenyan cryptocurrency, Sarafu, to sell his produce, along with the purchase of supplies. Kahindi highlights that crypto has enabled him to save his fiat while also earning in crypto.