South Africa leads cryptocurrency use in Africa

The country is Africa’s second biggest economy after Nigeria, with a Gross Domestic Product of $350 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund.

In South Africa, cryptocurrencies are growing in popularity. Google Trends indicates that the highest number of bitcoin searches in the world occur in the Southern African country. About 50 percent of South Africans plan to put some into cryptocurrencies, says a 2018 survey by Mybroadband.

The economy, Africa’s most sophisticated, is home to a number of digital currency exchanges – including Luno, which operates in 40 countries worldwide – allowing people to buy and sell digital coins like bitcoin in the local Rand currency.

Domestic financial companies are now starting to step into the space. Asset management firm Sygnia has announced plans to open an exchange called Sygnia Coin during the last three months of this year. A litany of start-ups riding on the distributed ledger technology are emerging, including the Johannesburg-based Tari Labs, a blockchain incubator, headed by Monero’s Riccardo Spagni.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has pilot tested an inter-bank settlement system code named Project Kohka, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Aiming to speed up payments, the system is understood to have performed “exceedingly well” during simulated trials for real-time gross settlements between banking institutions. The SARB does not recognise cryptocurrencies as legal tender, urging caution in their trade. The country’s revenue authority, however, has announced that profits made from cryptocurrency transactions will be taxed in accordance with the South African income tax law.

More info : https://bitcoinschannel.com/africa-and-its-antiquated-banking-cryptocurrencies-the-solution/