11% of SA adults own crypto ‒ report on global uptake

Martin Hesse|Published

Cryptocurrency adoption is on the rise in South Africa, with a higher percentage of adults owning crypto than in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany or Japan, according to Finder.com’s latest Cryptocurrency Adoption Index.

Here are some highlights of the report:

  • 11% of South African adult internet users, or an estimated 4.5 million people, said they owned cryptocurrency in the December survey, up from 10% in October – an increase of one percentage point.
  • Bitcoin is still the most popular coin to own (6.3%), followed by Ethereum (3.5%) and XRP (2.9%).
  • Cryptocurrency ownership in South Africa is below the global average of 15% but higher than countries like the United States (10%), Germany (8%), and the United Kingdom (6%).
  • Out of the 27 countries surveyed in the study, South Africa ranks 21st in terms of cryptocurrency ownership.
  • Vietnam has the most cryptocurrency investors (29%), followed by India and Australia (23% each), while Japan and the UK have the fewest crypto investors (6% each).

You can read the full report here.

Percentage of adults who own cryptocurrency:

1. Vietnam: 29%

2. India: 23%

3. Australia: 23%

4. Indonesia: 22%

5. Philippines: 22%

6. Nigeria: 21%

7. Malaysia: 20%

8. Russia: 20%

9. Ghana: 17%

10. Hong Kong: 16%

11. Singapore: 16%

12. Kenya: 16%

13. Argentina: 15%

14. Mexico: 15%

15. Venezuela: 15%

16. Colombia: 14%

17. Brazil: 14%

18. Norway: 13%

19. Canada: 13%

20. Ireland: 12%

21. South Africa: 11%

22. United States: 10%

23. Sweden: 10%

24. New Zealand: 9%

25. Germany: 8%

26. United Kingdom: 6%

27. Japan: 6%

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11% of SA adults own crypto ‒ report on global uptake