Following an article done by Citizen Digital (now removed), one of the reputable media outlets in Kenya, BitcoinKE would like to come forward and debunk some of the false information provided.
The Citizen article suggested that Kenya has the fourth highest interest in cryptocurrencies with a total of 4.5 million crypto owners.
Lets see why this data doesn’t match:
- 4.5 million is approximately 55% of the total adult Kenyan population between the ages of 25-54 years. This means that half of the Kenyan adult population not only understands cryptocurrency but also owns it. (ambiguous) This is funny because the majority of the population in Kenya predominantly knows little to nothing about crypto
- Also by logic, with such a huge population owning crypto, it would mean that most shops and retail outlets accept crypto payments. How is that possible while we have less than 10 stores that accept payments in crypto in Kenya?
- According to Paxful and LocalBitcoins, the leading P2P crypto trading platforms in Kenya, there are less than 200, 000 users on both platforms with active users accounting for less than 20, 000. Going by the math, the 4.5 million users is over-inflated and illogical if the top 2 exchanges do not account for even 10% of the proposed users
The crypto space is flooded with fake data and information from malicious groups.
News outlets should indulge in proper research before publishing an article like the one done by Citizen.
Kenya ranked 4th globally in cryptocurrency interest https://t.co/g96ZNDvOPt pic.twitter.com/9Klb3sxnDA
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 11, 2021
In an effort to debunk such information, BitKE, in partnership with CELO, undertook a training program that educated and trained journalists and editors of reputable East African publishing houses on the legit websites to get authentic cryptocurrency data and news.
BitKE also publishes regular blog posts with factual data that can be used in reporting.
Here are a few examples of well-researched content with credible data about Africa and Kenya that BitKE, in partnership with exchanges, has covered:
Providing such misleading data and information puts newbies who do not understand cryptocurrencies at risk of being scammed.
It may also encourage the mushrooming of crypto scams as the population is largely misinformed.
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