Cryptocurrency adoption among the adult population of Ghanaians over the last one year increased to 20% at end-August 2022.
The increased uptake of the digital asset marks a 3 percentage points increment from the previous year’s adoption rate of 17%.
Per the August 2022 Cryptocurrency Adoption Index by Finder.com, uptake of cryptocurrency particularly Bitcoin (54%) and Ethereum (20%) increased despite the huge decline in cryptocurrency ownership and price value.
According to James Edwards, cryptocurrency specialist at Finder.com, increased adoption of cryptocurrency among Ghanaians is due to the use of the digital asset as a hedge against inflation and the weakening local currency.
“We saw huge drops in the price of Bitcoin at the start of May and June which led to declines in crypto ownership in other markets. However it looks like Ghana is bucking the trend with cryptocurrency adoption increasing. It’s likely Ghanaians are looking to cryptocurrency as a hedge against inflation and a weakening local currency,” said James Edwards.
The cedi, has since the beginning of the year lost about 36% in value to the dollar, according to Bloomberg.
Inflation has also risen sharply to 31.7% at end-July 2022.
In January this year, Ghana, out of 27 surveyed countries, was ranked the 9th country with the highest rate of cryptocurrency ownership among its adult population.