Written by: Chainalysis
Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News
Crypto data research firm Chainalysis has released its latest Global Crypto Adoption Report. The report’s Sub-Saharan Africa chapter notes that the region’s crypto economy grew 13.4% year over year to $101 billion, the fastest growth rate worldwide. South Africa and Nigeria are the two key markets, with stablecoin demand surging and the share of individuals using self-custody wallets ranking highest globally. Crypto adoption in the region is driven primarily by real financial needs, such as cross-border remittances and everyday payments. The market’s future trajectory will largely depend on regulatory clarity. Below is a Chinese translation of the report’s Sub-Saharan Africa chapter:
Although sub-Saharan Africa is the smallest crypto economy in the world, it is also the fastest-growing. From July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, the region’s crypto market grew 13.4% to $101 billion, with South Africa the main driver of growth.
A very practical reason behind local crypto adoption is that many individuals and businesses still lack access to affordable, reliable financial services. For ordinary people, cryptocurrency offers an alternative way to manage money and make cross-border transfers. For businesses, it enables faster, lower-cost cross-border payments and settlements.
In this region, cryptocurrency’s appeal lies not in creating entirely new financial products or speculative investment channels, but in addressing real-world financial pain points.
As Mercy Emmanuel, head of stablecoin and blockchain commerce at Nigerian fintech company Flutterwave, put it: “For African markets, commercially valuable innovation should reduce friction in existing financial activities, not deliberately add complexity just to use blockchain.”
South Africa and Nigeria lead the regional market
South Africa and Nigeria dominate the sub-Saharan African crypto market, together accounting for more than three-quarters of the region’s total crypto transaction volume.
South Africa is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest crypto economy
However, the two countries are following clearly divergent paths. During the report’s study period, South Africa’s crypto economy reached $39.3 billion, up 52% year over year, bucking the global bear market. Growth spanned all sectors covered by the study, driven primarily by cross-border P2P stablecoin transfers and flows related to various crypto services.
Nigeria’s crypto market was close in size to South Africa’s, at $38.1 billion, but transaction volume fell 3% year over year. Growth in centralized exchanges (CEXs) and crypto services was offset by a 45% decline in decentralized exchange (DEX) transaction volume and a 17% drop in cross-border P2P transaction volume. Meanwhile, Nigeria ranked third globally in the Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index.
South Africa and Nigeria account for three-quarters of sub-Saharan Africa’s total crypto economy
In other countries, CEX and DEX trading activity has a major influence on growth patterns. Ghana’s crypto market grew 80% to $5.1 billion, with activity rising on both CEXs and DEXs. Senegal’s crypto transaction volume surged 215% to $2.3 billion, with all growth coming from centralized exchanges. By contrast, Ethiopia’s crypto market contracted 8% to $3.7 billion, mainly because of a decline in DEX trading.
These differences show that crypto adoption is progressing unevenly across the region. Smaller markets have significant room to grow and can scale up quickly, but their transaction volumes are also more volatile and highly susceptible to market conditions and regulatory changes. Regulation and market conditions can accelerate adoption, but can also abruptly halt its momentum.
One-third of crypto inflows go to personal wallets
The study found that personal wallets account for a very large share of the sub-Saharan African crypto market, reflecting a distinctive adoption pattern in which individuals are the main holders and transferors of crypto assets.
During the period studied, personal wallets received 32.3% of the region’s total incoming funds, the highest share anywhere in the world. This suggests that local users often choose cryptocurrency to manage their own funds rather than rely on custodial intermediaries such as exchanges.
Cross-border P2P transfers made up the bulk of these funds, accounting for 70.9% of the amount received by personal wallets. Domestic P2P transactions accounted for 18.5%, and transfers from crypto service platforms to personal wallets made up 10.7%.
One-third of crypto funds in sub-Saharan Africa flow into self-custody personal wallets
A shortage of custodial services and regulatory uncertainty are key reasons users prefer self-custody wallets. Take Nigeria, for example: from 2021 to 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria prohibited banks from serving crypto exchanges. The country has also since been involved in tax disputes with leading international crypto platforms. Such regulatory shifts encourage users to self-custody their assets to avoid the risks of future policy changes and market shutdowns.
Regional stablecoin transaction volume increased sixfold, while Bitcoin inflows fell 60%
Stablecoins are rapidly reshaping the sub-Saharan African crypto market. From 2022 to 2026, the value of stablecoins received through P2P channels increased sixfold, from $2.3 billion to $14.6 billion. Over the same period, Bitcoin receipts fell 60%, from $36 billion to $14.6 billion.
Stablecoin transaction volume increased sixfold, while Bitcoin fell 60%
This shift highlights the practical value of stablecoins: individuals and businesses can use them to hold value in foreign currencies such as the US dollar without opening a foreign-currency bank account. In sub-Saharan Africa, where local currencies can be volatile, access to foreign exchange is limited, and cross-border transfers are costly and slow, stablecoins can be used to receive payments, preserve value, and move funds across the region.
Stablecoins’ use cases have moved beyond trading and are attracting wider attention. Philip Kwaw Sebuabe, head of the virtual assets unit at the Bank of Ghana, said: “Stablecoins’ appeal is no longer limited to trading. Cross-border payments, remittance settlements, and preserving value in foreign-currency assets are all key use cases.”
Gillian Darko, vice president of strategy at stablecoin payment infrastructure provider Yellowcard.io, shares this view. She sees stablecoins as the region’s biggest opportunity over the coming year, saying they can meet demand for reliable payment systems and connect payments, savings, and investment.
Cross-border remittances offer the clearest illustration of stablecoins’ value: regional stablecoin remittance volume doubled year over year, rising from $235 million to $492 million, while Bitcoin remittances remained broadly unchanged. The number of cross-border stablecoin transfers grew nearly fivefold, indicating an increase in real-world demand rather than just a nominal rise driven by asset-price growth.
Stablecoins overtake Bitcoin as the leading crypto remittance asset
This reflects Africa’s strong demand for cross-border financial connectivity. Mercy Emmanuel of Flutterwave noted: “Africa has strong demand for international financial connectivity, but payment networks are fragmented across different currencies, markets, and financial institutions. Stablecoins offer a way to move value between these isolated systems.”
Against this backdrop, local-currency stablecoins are gaining attention. Rob Downes, head of digital assets at pan-African bank Absa CIB, noted that local-currency stablecoins are emerging, with pilot projects underway in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania. For example, the Bank of Ghana is exploring a cedi-backed stablecoin: the stablecoin would handle settlement, while recipients could ultimately receive Ghanaian cedis in their bank accounts or mobile wallets without having to hold crypto assets themselves.
Philip Kwaw Sebuabe also pointed to another major advantage of stablecoins: they are not constrained by traditional banking hours. Bank transfers are usually limited by business days, weekends, and holidays, while stablecoin transactions can settle 24/7—a particularly important feature for international trade, cross-border remittances, and financial markets.
These trends show that stablecoins serve two key functions: providing exposure to foreign currencies such as the US dollar, while improving regional payment systems. Whether stablecoins can achieve widespread adoption depends largely on regulatory clarity. Ghana and Kenya introduced stablecoin-related regulations last year, establishing rules for their rapidly expanding stablecoin markets and supporting broader adoption.
Crypto payment channels are expanding within Africa as businesses seek low-cost cross-border settlements
The research found rapid growth in business-focused payments within Africa, with cryptocurrencies playing an increasingly important role in cross-border business transfers within the region. The figures include consumer-to-merchant payments and transfers between businesses.
Growth in this sector is driven by longstanding pain points in traditional cross-border business payments in Africa: only a small share of intra-African payments are cleared locally, resulting in high costs and regulatory friction. Against this backdrop, crypto payment channels connecting African merchants and consumers have become a highly attractive alternative.
The data show that during the period studied, the number of active crypto payment channels within the region nearly doubled, from 80 to 152. Of these, 95 had funds flowing in both directions. Total transaction volume more than tripled, rising from $34.3 million to $116.5 million. Average transaction volume per channel increased from $429,000 to $766,000, reflecting broader regional financial connectivity and steadily growing transaction activity.
The number of cross-border business payment channels within sub-Saharan Africa nearly doubled
This trend is significant not only because more crypto funds are moving between African markets, but also because crypto payment channels are serving merchants and consumers underserved by traditional financial infrastructure.
Although demand for these crypto payment channels is strong across the region, whether financial institutions and mainstream payment providers will embrace cryptocurrency will determine whether the sector can continue to scale. Gillian Darko emphasized the role of banks in domestic transfers, international payments, and remittances across Africa. For stablecoin payments to become widespread, they must connect with the existing banking system and link on-chain transactions to broader financial infrastructure.
North America is the leading source of crypto remittances to sub-Saharan Africa
Beyond business payments, crypto remittances are becoming increasingly important in sub-Saharan Africa. Traditional remittance fees are high, making cryptocurrency an appealing low-cost alternative.
Remittances are an important source of income in many countries across the region, accounting for a large share of GDP in countries such as The Gambia and Lesotho. In 2025, sub-Saharan Africa received substantial cross-border remittances. Yet the cost of sending money to the region has long remained high: World Bank data show that the average fee for sending $200 is among the highest in the world. Even a small reduction in fees can make a real difference to recipients. Crypto remittances help in this context by lowering costs, removing barriers, and speeding up transfers.
The study shows that developed economies are the main sources of crypto remittances flowing into sub-Saharan Africa. During the period studied, they totaled $888 million, up 36% year over year. The number of transfers grew even faster, rising 43% and surpassing one million for the full year 2026.
Crypto remittances from Western countries to sub-Saharan Africa continue to rise
North America, home to large Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Ethiopian diaspora communities, is the largest source of crypto remittances, totaling $645 million. The Australia and New Zealand region saw the fastest growth, with remittances rising from $48 million to $143 million, nearly tripling. Western Europe grew more moderately, from $79 million to $100 million.
The data show that crypto remittances are becoming a channel for diaspora communities to send funds to sub-Saharan Africa, with the range of sending regions continuing to broaden.
Beyond direct remittances, cryptocurrency could also support diaspora investment. Gillian Darko of Yellowcard.io suggested that blockchain could open new channels for diaspora investment, improve financing and asset distribution, and connect African businesses and assets with overseas capital.
Diaspora distribution shapes crypto remittance flows
The size and composition of diaspora communities help explain the distribution of crypto remittance sources.
During the period studied, crypto remittances from North America and the Australia and New Zealand region were significantly higher than population shares alone would predict, while those from Western Europe were notably lower. Among the countries covered by this analysis, 64% of migrants born in sub-Saharan Africa live in Western Europe, but the region accounted for only 10% of crypto remittances. France is a case in point: it has a sub-Saharan African migrant population close in size to that of the United States, yet crypto remittances sent from France totaled just $5.4 million, compared with $223 million from the US.
Crypto remittance volumes are strongly correlated with the size of local African diaspora communities
In per-capita outflows, Canada ranked first: crypto remittances per sub-Saharan African migrant rose from $586 to $736. The US figure increased to $143 per person, while Western Europe’s rose only from $14.50 to $17.90.
Canada has the highest average remittance per migrant, while Western Europe is comparatively low
These differences reflect the combined effects of the economies and policy environments of sending countries, diaspora income levels, and the maturity of local crypto markets. Job opportunities and social benefits affect how much money diaspora members can send, while crypto adoption determines whether they choose to send it using crypto.
North America’s high share of crypto remittances reflects both its large African migrant population and its mature crypto market. This also shows that the link between migration and crypto remittances depends heavily on the local conditions in migrants’ destination countries.
South African businesses are widely adopting crypto payments
The study found that South Africa has developed a sizable crypto-based real economy, with consumers and merchants using cryptocurrency directly to purchase goods and services.
The research analyzed merchant-directed payment data within South Africa: transfers between wallets where the recipient’s transaction profile indicated merchant-service payments. The scope is broad, covering everything from businesses paying for ongoing service contracts in crypto to consumers scanning a QR code to buy fast food. To exclude distortions from exceptionally large transactions, the maximum transaction size was capped at $50,000. This category includes formal merchants, P2P traders, and other sellers.
During the period studied, these merchant payments in South Africa totaled $8.34 billion, increasing quarter over quarter. In the second quarter of 2026—the final quarter of the study period—service-related transfers were more than $1 billion higher than in the third quarter of 2025, the first quarter covered by the study.
Growth in these merchant payments even outpaced South Africa’s rapidly growing institutional crypto inflows, which totaled $1.29 billion over the same period.
Service-payment growth has already outpaced institutional platform inflows
The growth in merchant payments is underpinned by ongoing improvements to South Africa’s crypto payment infrastructure. In 2025, mainstream QR payment service Scan to Pay and crypto platform MoneyBadger launched a joint payment solution that lets consumers spend Bitcoin at more than 600,000 physical stores. As of August 2026, the partnership covered a large number of retail locations.
MoneyBadger CEO Carel van Wyk said that South Africans are increasingly using cryptocurrency for everyday purchases in stores and online. An analysis of the company’s payment data for the second quarter of 2026 found that half of transaction amounts were under $13 and 87% were under $60; e-commerce accounted for 48% of total payment value. “Combined with the repeat-purchase data we’ve observed, this shows that cryptocurrency is becoming part of local people’s everyday spending habits.”
South Africa: sub-Saharan Africa’s crypto hub
South Africa has long been a gateway for international investment in Africa. It has the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, a mature banking system, and a broad industrial base, as well as established trade links across the continent that support the flow of real-economy capital throughout Africa. Chainalysis data show that South Africa is also a hub for cross-border crypto flows in Africa.
To determine whether South Africa’s crypto flows align with its traditional trade and investment relationships, the team compared cross-border crypto payments from South Africa with its foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. South Africa has long been a key source of intra-African FDI.
Crypto flows from South Africa to Nigeria, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Namibia, and Zimbabwe closely matched traditional FDI flows. This suggests that crypto and traditional investment channels partly overlap, building on established business and trade relationships.
South Africa’s crypto service-payment and investment footprint across Africa
However, the overlap is not complete. Botswana and Zambia receive substantial FDI from South Africa but relatively little crypto, while Senegal and Cameroon show the opposite pattern. This indicates that crypto flows are only partially correlated with traditional outward investment.
Even though crypto flows do not entirely follow FDI, the overlap across several key markets confirms that South Africa is becoming a regional hub for crypto business and transactions. This reinforces the finding that merchant payments are growing rapidly within South Africa: crypto is playing an increasingly important role in the country’s commercial activity.
However, South Africa’s role as a hub may change in the future. In August 2026, the South African Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) released a draft cross-border crypto-asset guidance manual, proposing to bring crypto assets under the country’s capital flow management framework. The draft originally stipulated that individuals could transfer crypto assets abroad only through authorized local providers, while businesses would be prohibited from transferring crypto assets across borders in either direction. The draft drew strong opposition, and the SARB recently said it was revising the rules to remove the requirement for prior approval.
Whatever the final version looks like, these rules will have a profound impact on cross-border crypto transfers by individuals and businesses.
Nigeria: domestic crypto services surge, with local exchanges leading growth
Nigeria is the region’s second-largest crypto economy, and its market is heavily oriented toward crypto services. Large sums flow to crypto platforms and other services. During the period studied, Nigerian users transferred $25.2 billion to crypto service platforms, up 172% from four years earlier and faster than the regional average.
Nigeria’s service-related inflows are growing far faster than those of other sub-Saharan African countries
Nearly all of the increase came from domestic exchanges, which contributed $4.13 billion in additional inflows, or 92% of the total increase. Overall, local platforms received $6.22 billion, accounting for half of total inflows to Nigeria’s centralized exchanges. Market share shifted dramatically: local exchanges accounted for 27% in 2025, compared with just 7% in 2022.
Changes in the market share of Nigerian domestic exchanges
This shift stems from Nigeria’s restrictive policies toward international exchanges in recent years. In 2024, regulators, concerned about the naira’s depreciation and the potential for cryptocurrency to intensify exchange-rate volatility, at one point restricted users’ access to international platforms such as Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase. Although the restrictions were temporary, disagreements between regulators and leading international exchanges have persisted. With fewer platforms offering naira trading pairs available to Nigerian users, domestic exchanges gained an opportunity to grow.
The continued development of the regulatory framework has further boosted the domestic ecosystem. In July 2026, Nigeria’s president signed an executive order on virtual asset coordination, establishing an interagency committee led by the central bank to coordinate virtual asset regulation. Stablecoins are also included in the regulatory framework, and a controlled sandbox environment will be set up to test new products. Looking ahead, Nigeria’s SEC has already issued draft rules on virtual asset operations, custody, and markets. Exchanges and custodians will need to meet higher capital requirements by June 2027.
These policies could further strengthen Nigeria’s domestic crypto ecosystem, give local platforms a clear regulatory framework, and expand the scope of their services. However, higher capital and compliance costs will favor well-funded large institutions and reshape the competitive landscape.
P2P trading remains important in Nigeria. Bitcoin’s share of small transfers is far higher than in other parts of the region and the global average, making this a distinctive feature of Nigeria’s crypto market. During the period studied, Bitcoin accounted for 92% of Nigerian wallet transfers under $10,000, totaling $923 million out of $1 billion. In the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, the share was just 22%.
Bitcoin dominates small P2P transfers under $10,000 in Nigeria, setting the market apart from the rest of the region
This shows that Bitcoin is the primary vehicle for everyday, small-value peer-to-peer transfers in Nigeria, unlike other markets where stablecoins predominate.
Overall, Nigeria’s market is characterized by both the continued expansion of its domestic exchange ecosystem and a heavy reliance on Bitcoin for small P2P transactions. Even as formal crypto services develop, local demand for crypto still stems from users’ desire to transfer value directly and flexibly. As domestic services and regulation mature, understanding these distinctive usage patterns will be essential to assessing the direction of Nigeria’s market.
Outlook
Over the coming year, sub-Saharan Africa’s distinct paths to crypto adoption will be worth watching. South Africa’s crypto market is increasingly oriented toward business payments, while Nigeria’s is characterized by P2P trading and small Bitcoin transfers. Across the region, demand for cross-border payments and settlements continues to drive crypto adoption, while financial institutions are gradually entering the market. Stablecoins are helping address fragmented payment systems and currency barriers.
The direction of future trends will depend on multiple factors, including capital investment and user demand, but regulation will be decisive. Clear regulations can give businesses, investors, and financial institutions the confidence to participate in crypto, accelerating adoption. As Rob Downes of Absa CIB put it: “At this stage, regulation is unquestionably the most important factor driving crypto’s development in Africa.”
The key question is whether the capital continuing to flow into sub-Saharan Africa’s crypto sector can be converted into greater regional financial connectivity and inclusive financial services. In the long term, crypto’s value in Africa will depend on whether it can consistently deliver real benefits to individuals and businesses—moving beyond speculation and experimentation to become a genuinely useful part of the region’s financial and commercial infrastructure.