The Africa crypto industry is thriving. Ethiopia Bitcoin industry is now the largest crypto Africa mining hub, while Nigeria’s crypto is focused on policy, and crypto recycling is sweeping the continent.
2024 was a massive year for crypto. Bitcoin broke $100,000 for the first time, drawing even more investors and enthusiasts. While traders were fixated on prices and whether top altcoins would moon, something else was happening in Africa.
Ethiopia is cementing its place in global Bitcoin mining, using renewable energy to reap huge profits. Meanwhile, Nigeria is at the forefront in crypto regulations, increasingly warming up to the tech and its vast use cases.
In Kenya and Tanzania, innovators demonstrate that crypto is not just about launching meme coins. Instead, blockchain can be utilized to tackle environmental challenges and create a more sustainable world.
This review will highlight all the pivotal events in the past week that helped further refine Africa’s crypto narrative, showing that the continent is a key player in the global digital economy.
Ethiopia Crypto News: Dominating Crypto Mining
According to reports in 2024, Ethiopia became the first country in Africa to operate large-scale, government-backed crypto mining. As a result, it reportedly generated over $1 billion in Bitcoin mining profits, which translates to around 18% of the country’s national income.
Its success is all thanks to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), one of the world’s largest hydro power plants. GERD provides cheap energy, some of which are utilized by crypto miners. A portion of the revenue from Bitcoin mining goes back into maintaining the GERD infrastructure.
Nigeria Crypto News: Spearheading Crypto Regulations
While Ethiopia excels in crypto mining, Nigeria aims to be the beacon of crypto regulations on the continent.
The country’s chief regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is warming up to crypto. Despite its challenges with Binance, the SEC wants to create a new progressive framework that balances innovation with oversight.
In this regime, all crypto exchanges must be licensed and required to incubate before launching. During this time, they will learn to align with the regulator’s new crypto standards before securing an operating license.
So far, Busha and Quidax are the two crypto exchanges licensed to operate. Yellow Card Nigeria also seeks to apply for a license.
Tanzania and Kenya Crypto Africa News: Blockchain In Environmental Conservation
While blockchain is known more for meme coins and DeFi, fresh efforts are being made to demonstrate how the tech can address one of Africa’s environmental challenges: restoration.
Chatafisha and Aquapurge, operating from Tanzania and Kenya, are turning efforts to preserve the environment into a profitable venture for participants. Through their regenerative finance efforts, they have launched programs that incentivize waste collection and recycling. Those who actively participate receive tokens that can be swapped for cash.
ReFi projects crushing it in Africa: Aquapurge + Chatafisha paying locals w/ tokens to clean trash 🌍
5.4k kg waste cleared thru PURGE tokens + Dar es Salaam collectors earning from recycling. blockchain verifies every kg = real impact
win-win: ESG creds for protocols, income… pic.twitter.com/f2QZSpZuDX
— AlphaChatX (@AlphaChatX) January 9, 2025
The clean-up activities are now along the Kenyan and Tanzanian coastlines. So far, over 23 cleanup events have been conducted, and participants earned USDC rewards.
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