Africa Emerges as a Crucial Gateway for Global Web3 Adoption

A report put out recently by Dune Analytics and called State of Wallets 2025 sheds light on Africa’s rapidly expanding DeFi ecosystem.

While the continent may be behind in most metrics (like overall transaction volume and wallet balances), it is seen as the next big opportunity for Web3 growth, with increased activity in onboarding new users to decentralized finance, digital assets, and crypto-power financial services.

The information leads us to an intriguing contradiction: while Africa provides under 1% of the worldwide transaction and balance activity, it possesses some of the loftiest user penetration rates for headline wallet platforms. This subset of the digital economy is not only open for business in Africa—a notion often ridiculed as “moonshot” thinking—but it is also making genuine inroads and securing substantive locales within the continent.

Among the non-custodial and multi-functional wallets, Zerion is the clear leader in Africa, with 38% of its user base coming from the continent. It is followed by Bitget with 23.9%. Phantom, a wallet that is traditionally associated with the Solana ecosystem, holds a strong 21% of its user base in Africa.

This user growth is the result of a meeting of demographic and economic forces. It is driven predominantly by that segment of Africa’s population that is both young and tech-savvy—a demographic that is largely unbanked and thus very much in need of the types of services that Web3 can provide. This is a population that gets its news from TikTok and spends a good amount of time on Instagram and other social media; if anything, they gossip even more than we do, thanks to a chat function on every possible app.

In little over a year, might we add, these services have shot up from half a billion dollars to a figure that almost clips two billion.

The regional situation is highlighted by Nigeria. It is responsible for accounting for at least half of the crypto activities of the continent’s “wallet users.” Among crypto enthusiasts, Nigeria’s role in the emergence of the digital economy in Africa is undisputed. This country has now established itself as a trendsetter on the continent. But other countries are also carving their niches. South Africa is the leader in the use of Best Wallet, with a commanding 36.4% of its local market. Meanwhile, Ethiopia is a surprise when it comes to adoption rates for Ton Wallet. This country tops the charts with an impressive 45.2% share.

Africa is lagging behind despite large user figures. It is performing poorly across total transaction activity and wallet holdings. In a recent report from Dune, they shared the following statement: “We estimate that Africa contributes less than 1% of global crypto transaction volume and wallet balances.” Translating this massive interest into economic engagement is proving to be quite a challenge.

The issue of security is pressing. Parts of the crypto ecosystem have created part of that mistrust because of scams and phishing attacks. And regulatory uncertainty plays a role, too. Because inconsistent policies across different African nations create friction for both users and developers of cryptocurrency. For instance, countries like Nigeria have shown much more progressive positions recently. But many other nations still continue to either ban or restrict activities related to cryptocurrency.

Even so, specialists are still hopeful. They contend that the low amount of capital flowing into African markets should not obscure the continent’s strategic relevance. As an increasing number of worldwide crypto exchanges and protocols look to grow their user bases, Africa stands as one of the best places for them to do so and experiment with new technologies.

The crypto journey in Africa has just started. The wallet adoption wave is here, and as infrastructure improves, and as the regional needs of our innovators and entrepreneurs are met through thoughtful local solutions, the wave will deepen. The current of pan-African crypto innovation is set to grow. Already, we see the emergence of platforms like a Web3 accelerator that focuses on Africa, educational platforms for the next wave of crypto users, and DeFi tools that seem purpose-built for low-bandwidth, mobile-first users.

What’s clear is that Africa provides a perfect gateway for worldwide crypto adoption. It has a huge number of unbanked and underbanked people; its mobile network penetration is very strong; and there is a burgeoning interest in digital finance. These three factors alone mean Africa could contribute significantly to the next chapter of the Internet.

Africa could become a real Web3 powerhouse. This is Dune’s report on where development in decentralized finance stands in Africa today. And there’s hope! If we can get more regulatory clarity, and protections for users can be boosted, then we can head off the dangers I listed above. The safe future noted above is one what portals like Zerion, Bitget, and Phantom are leading us toward. These are not seen as safe because, hey, there’s no such thing as a totally safe place; they are avenues into the future bordering territory that is safer than other borders.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

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