Interest in cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, has been surging in Kenya in recent years. The country has witnessed tremendous growth in the use and trading of Bitcoin alongside other countries in Africa, such as Nigeria and South Africa.
Bitcoin, as a digital currency that is programmably scarce, has become a popular and alternative way to store wealth in an inflationary environment. Since January 2020, the Kenyan shilling has lost 10% of its value against the United States dollar, and a trend since 2008 indicates a loss in value of 45%.
Coronavirus lockdowns have also forced many young Kenyans out of jobs, which has led many digitally savvy Kenyans to seek extra income through trading and investing in bitcoin.
This activity has been especially focused towards peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin trading platforms such as LocalBitcoins, providing a secure way for anyone in Kenya to buy bitcoin.
Already operating in 2012, and fully regulated in Finland, LocalBitcoins helps its users to find local traders around them that will accept multiple payment options. This means that you can easily and safely buy bitcoin with Paypal or with M-Pesa or even with PesaLink.
On a peer-to-peer bitcoin trading platform, bitcoin buyers and sellers interact directly with each other through “buy” and “sell” advertisements. The trade process is secured by LocalBitcoins’ escrow protection. In the event of a dispute between traders, LocalBitcoins’ admins will quickly step in to settle the trade with a fair resolution.
New user registrations in Kenya have been on the rise at LocalBitcoins in the last few years, in fact the year 2020 saw 80% more sign-ups than 2019. The platform has been popular with Kenyan users this year as well: in February alone there were around 17,000 active Kenyan users on the LocalBitcoins platform.
Many bitcoins have been changing hands too: in February and March 2021, the weekly Kenyan trading volume on LocalBitcoins has consistently been over 100 million KSh. A record volume was achieved in the second week of January 2021, when 150 million KSh worth of bitcoin was traded on the platform.
“Kenyans are young, tech-savvy and highly entrepreneurial people. 70 percent of our Kenyan users are under 34 years of age. We see a tremendous potential in Kenya”, says Jukka Blomberg, the Chief Marketing Officer of LocalBitcoins.
Bitcoin has proved to be useful for many Kenyans receiving remittance payments from abroad. Sending digital currency across borders straight from the sender’s mobile phone to the recipient’s phone removes the need to pay unnecessary high brokerage fees to various middlemen.
By offering a decentralized payment technology that knows no borders and that can’t be shut down by any single entity, Bitcoin makes it easier for freelancers to get paid across borders.
In a world with global talent, getting paid with bitcoin will open up opportunities both to workers and employers. Talented freelancers in fields such as graphic design or copywriting will be able to offer their services to employers in other countries, who in turn will also have a wider pool of freelancers to choose from.
Besides offering a secure and reliable trading and investing platform, LocalBitcoins offers an affordable wallet solution that you can use to receive bitcoin payments from anywhere in the world.
While Bitcoin transaction fees have been high recently due to increasing network fees paid to the Bitcoin miners, transactions between two LocalBitcoins wallets are totally free.
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