Stafford Masi, chief executive of Africa Bitcoin Corporation, said on Tuesday that bitcoin in parts of Africa is acting as an everyday currency rather than a store of value.
Speaking with Natalie Brunell on the Coin Stories podcast on Tuesday, Masi said Bitcoin (BTC) frameworks vary significantly across regions.
“Where I come from, Bitcoin is money,” he told Brunell, adding that in some circular economies in Africa, merchants “don’t accept dollars — they accept satoshis.”
While investors in developed markets often emphasize its role as an inflation hedge, he described communities where satoshis circulate directly in the local economy. He also pointed to the sharp difference between inflation in the West and parts of Africa.
“When you’re talking about bullying, you’re talking 4% to 5% every year — we’re talking 4% to 5% a day,” he said.
Masi contrasted the transition with the continent’s rapid adoption of mobile technology, arguing that the younger population is moving away from legacy financial systems. Instead of a gradual transition away from stable fiat currencies, he described a move away from what he called “broken money” and a sharp decline in currency into digital assets.
He also highlighted Africa’s youth demographics as a key factor, noting that more than a quarter of the continent’s population is under 20 years old. He said the younger generations are using new technologies like artificial intelligence and they “love Bitcoin”.
Masi said that in this context, Bitcoin becomes more than a passive store of value. Instead, he described it as “pure capital”; financial substrate on which individuals and businesses can build. He said:
In Africa, we know the age before 2008 and the age after 2008. After the Bitcoin white paper and before the Bitcoin white paper. Our lives changed because suddenly we found something that could not be put down. It was immutable, decentralized, impenetrable. It is life or death for the African.”
Masi is a technology executive who previously led large technology operations in South Africa.
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Crypto adoption in Africa
Data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis seems to support the changes in the plot that Masi describes.
From July 2024 to June 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa generated more than $205 billion in onchain value, up 52% year-over-year, making it the third fastest growing crypto region globally. In March 2025 alone, the monthly volume reached about $25 billion, largely driven by activity in Nigeria following the devaluation of the currency.
Sub-Saharan Africa also stood out as a retail crypto market. According to a report released in September, shipments under $10,000 account for more than 8% of the total value sent in the region, compared to about 6% globally.
At the same time, Nigeria and South Africa have shown significant institutional activity, with on-chain flows showing repeated transfers of multi-million stablecoins linked to cross-border trade between Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in January, former UN Under-Secretary-General Vera Songwe explained how stablecoins are increasingly seen as a cheaper means of money transfer and settlement in Africa.
He said remittances have become “more important than aid” in many African economies, while traditional remittances can cost about $6 per $100 sent. With inflation running above 20% in dozens of countries and about 650 million people unbanked, he said stablecoins offer both a payment method and a store of value in markets facing currency stress.
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