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Gold still bigger than Bitcoin in South Africa

Gold still bigger than Bitcoin in South Africa

Despite the buzz around Bitcoin in South Africa and the high level of activity recorded, gold remains a more attractive investment proposition, according to research by Bitcoin exchange Luno..

The infographic on how South Africans use Bitcoin produced by Luno, a Bitcoin exchange that operates in both South Africa and Nigeria in Africa and three Asian countries, shows that more South Africans (53.9% of those surveyed) would rather own gold over Bitcoin (12%) as a form of investment while 34.1% are unsure of putting their money in either.

This clearly differs from Nigerians' response in a similar survey earlier this month. 45.3% of those surveyed in Nigeria would rather invest in Bitcoin over gold (10.3%) and 44.4% are stuck in-between both.

The disparity in the choice of investment could be clearly understood. Half of the gold ever mined on earth reportedly comes from Mponeng mine which could explain South Africans' relationship with the globally-sought precious metal.

However, according to the infographic, the interest in gold hasn't stopped the take-off of the digital currency in South Africa. The study shows that despite up to 90% of payments in emerging markets like South Africa are still cash-based, the emergence of Bitcoin as a payment method that is safer and faster for transactions is driving up interest and adoption.

On the Google trends chart for the most Bitcoin-related searches, South Africa is currently ranked fifth in the world - behind Nigeria and Ghana in the first and second slots respectively.

66.6% of those surveyed say they trust Bitcoin as an investment tool - similar to 68.5% that trust it as a payment method - while 10% do not. About 98% of them think that Bitcoin will still be the biggest cryptocurrency in a year from now.

On what would become of the price of Bitcoin by the end of 2017, 54% of them think that the price will be between R20,000 and R29,000.

29.1% choose less, while the remainder 16.8% think the price would rise between R30,000 and above R60,000.

75.7% of respondents have only Bitcoin and 24.3% own Bitcoin as well as other currencies. Top among the list of other altcoins owned is in Ethereum (50%) followed by Litecoin at 24.3% - Litecoin is the most owned altcoin in Nigeria.

Some of the practical reasons given for buying the digital currency is for investment purpose (39.6%), for the control it offers (17.9%) as a decentralised cryptocurrency and for trading or speculation (14.3%).

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