The growth of economic instability caused an increase in the number of people interested in crypto-currencies in South Africa: Google recorded the highest level of requests for the word bitcion in South Africa among 66 countries with a high level of search.

The average monthly number of searches for the word “bitcoin” by South African nationals over the past 12 months is estimated at between 100,000 and 1,000,000. South African trade with bitcoin is also growing. Last week, for the first time, the amount of exchange transactions with crypto-currencies exceeding 20,000 000 rand (approximately $ 1.7 million).

Market analyst Mati Greenspan said that eToro’s trading and investment platform recorded a significant increase in the number of South African traders.

“The number of new users from South Africa, selling bitcoin through eToro, increased by 671% from November 2017 to January 2018 compared with the same period in 2016,”  – he said.

Some analysts attribute the growing interest in crypto-currencies in South Africa to the fact that the radical land reforms of the President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramafosa, which are the expropriation of land from white farmers, can become a catalyst for economic instability.

Against the backdrop of the president’s statements, as well as the high unemployment rate in the country, the population’s relations with financial organizations have worsened, and social tension has increased. In such conditions, local residents decided to address bitcoin as a solution to problems related to economic and political instability.

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