South Africa counted 7.8 million active cryptocurrency users in the first half of 2025, roughly 13 per cent of the population, according to a Discovery Bank report released in partnership with Visa.
- South Africa counted 7.8 million active cryptocurrency users in the first half of 2025, roughly 13 per cent of the...
- The figures place South Africa second only to Nigeria as the largest crypto market in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the user...
- Mobile-first platforms have played a key role in lowering barriers to entry, making cryptocurrency the primary gateway for younger consumers...
- Discovery Bank partnered with Luno in November 2025 to offer customers direct crypto trading, while Bitcoin and stablecoin payments are...
Keep reading for the full breakdown on Africa digital assets — everything you need to know is covered below.
The figures place South Africa second only to Nigeria as the largest crypto market in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the user base now spanning all income groups.
In 2024, transaction frequency among mass-market clients jumped by 26 per cent, while the mass-affluent and everyday-users segments also showed double-digit increases.
What does the Discovery Bank report discover
According to the report, 70 per cent of respondents said they are familiar with digital assets, and 54 per cent have owned crypto at some point.
Mobile-first platforms have played a key role in lowering barriers to entry, making cryptocurrency the primary gateway for younger consumers into the broader financial markets.
The number of South Africans with crypto-trading accounts nearly doubled to 8 million since early 2022, while the value of assets held in custody by Luno, VALR, and Ovex rose to more than R25 billion by the end of 2024.
“Increasingly, cryptocurrencies are being viewed as a core investment class alongside traditional assets such as stocks and property,” the Discovery Bank report states.
The buying pattern has changed accordingly. VisaNet transaction data shows that by 2025, transaction frequency reached 2.5 purchases per active card user, a pattern consistent with dollar-cost averaging, a disciplined investment strategy that has become the mainstream standard.
Discovery Bank partnered with Luno in November 2025 to offer customers direct crypto trading, while Bitcoin and stablecoin payments are now accepted at more than 650,000 merchant outlets through Scan to Pay and MoneyBadger.
The integration of crypto into everyday banking infrastructure marks a measurable shift in how the asset class functions, even compared to two years ago.
Africa’s crypto market gains ground
South Africa’s numbers sit within a wider regional expansion. Between July 2024 and June 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa received over $205 billion in on-chain value, up roughly 52 per cent from the previous year.
Africa now stands as the third-fastest-growing crypto region globally, behind Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Over 8 per cent of all value transferred in Sub-Saharan Africa during that period involved transactions of $10,000 or less, compared to 6 per cent for the rest of the world.
These patterns reflect that retail-driven adoption is tied to financial inclusion rather than institutional flows.
Growth in business-to-business transactions has also emerged as a crucial driver for adoption across the region, according to Chainalysis.
With 41 per cent of South Africans stating they are likely to acquire cryptocurrency in the future, digital assets are moving toward a permanent position in the country’s financial system.