Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ghana led the world in searching for “How to Buy Bitcoin” in 2022, Google trends data reveals.
According to the data, these are the top 5 countries for that search query:
- Nigeria
- Cameroon
- Ghana
- St Helena
- Cyprus
Below is an illustration of the data and how these countries Google ranking of the search popularity looks like:
Numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time.
- A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term
- A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular
- A score of 0 means there was not enough data for the term
Nigeria
Cameroon
Cameroon is witnessing a gradual and steady crypto adoption. The buying and selling of cryptocurrency is not regulated in Cameroon nor is it illegal.
As a result, anybody in Cameroon can create their own currency and sell it to the public in Cameroon and abroad for various purposes.
In 2021, Cameroon’s public debt was 18,329 million dollars. China has 61.3% of Cameroon’s bilateral debt or 27.4% of its total debt, and the African Development Bank holds 30.1% of the multilateral debt or 12.3% of its external debt.
Ghana
Like in other African countries, Ghana has been a victim of rising inflation and debt. Revenue earned by the government used to offset pending debts has risen to 70%.
In its State of Crypto: Africa report, Arcane Research showed an organic and growing interest in cryptocurrency. Bitcoin ownership in Ghana is said to be over 900, 000, which is more than 3% of the country’s total population.
Meanwhile, Ghana also ranks exceptionally high in Bitcoin mining interest.
Most Google searches
“How to mine #bitcoin”
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1.) Nigeria 🇳🇬
2.) Ghana 🇬🇭
3.) Kenya 🇰🇪
4.) Tobago 🇹🇹
5.) South Africa 🇿🇦
6.) Slovakia 🇸🇰
7.) Canada 🇨🇦
8.) Australia 🇦🇺
9.) Singapore 🇸🇬
10.) Lithuania 🇱🇹Africa leads the world! 🌍
— Documenting Bitcoin 📄 (@DocumentingBTC) December 20, 2022
Besides the 3 countries in the lead, more African countries are present in the top ten list of countries searching ‘How to Buy Bitcoin in 2022.’
Ethiopia has recently put up some restrictions against crypto, despite an ongoing push to liberalize its banking sector.
In June 2022, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), which is the Central Bank of Ethiopia, warned that digital currencies are being used to conduct informal financial transactions and money laundering schemes in Ethiopia. As such, it called on the public to refrain from trading in digital currencies and to report to authorities when they see such illegal transactions.
In April 2022, Ethiopia reported 36% year-over-year (YoY) inflation rate.
High inflation rates have largely contributed to affected residents of some of these countries adopting newer forms of currency, such as bitcoin, that offer higher levels of stability amid the devaluation of their currencies.
After Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya are the leading markets for cryptocurrencies in Africa. Users in these 2 countries typically turn to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to hedge against inflation and also for cross-border transactions.
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