Werner van Rooyen , head of Business Development and Growth at Bitx , one of Africa’s biggest Bitcoin exchanges, spoke to CoinTelegraph about the problems and potential of Bitcoin in Africa.
CoinTelegraph: Bitcoin use in Africa has improved in the last couple of years. What has really changed?
Werner van Rooyen: Bitcoin, as measured in the amount of transactions per day, is steadily rising in Africa as it is in the rest of the world.
Trading between local currencies and Bitcoin is higher today than it had been a few years back and there’s a big increase in Bitcoin awareness and discussion, both by governments and consumers.
CT: South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are the three main markets for the virtual currency in Africa. Do you think the distribution pattern will remain the same for a long time or something is likely to change very soon?
WR: I don’t see this changing anytime soon. Werner van Rooyen, head of Business Development and Growth at Bitx Hurdles ahead
CT: There is so much talk about how Africa is likely to benefit from Bitcoin. What’s your take?
WR: I do believe that Africa is very likely to benefit from Bitcoin, but probably not in the immediate future. Africa will surely reap the benefits of Bitcoin – fast transactions, global interoperability, cheap micropayments – but there are still hurdles in terms of awareness, smartphone penetration, reliable and cheap data availability and enough liquidity, so that users get a fair exchange rate when they convert their Bitcoin back to local currency.Just like early investors in telecommunication operations in Africa didn’t necessarily see huge numbers in their early days, they are truly industry giants today. CT: Do you think banks and Bitcoin can work together in Africa? WR: There is probably […]
