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The Kingdom of Morocco is the leader in Bitcoin trading in North Africa in 2021, despite its illegal status.
Singapore-based cryptocurrency provider and aggregator Triple A estimates that 0.9 million people, or roughly 2.4% of Morocco’s total population, currently own cryptocurrency.
This puts the kingdom in first place in North Africa and ranks among the 50 largest cryptocurrency holders by percentage of population, ahead of Portugal.
Data from Useful Tulips – a platform that tracks peer-to-peer BTC trading around the world – confirms this trend. The Kingdom of the West, as locals call it, was the uncontrolled leader in North Africa in BTC deals last year, second only to Saudi Arabia when you weigh the entire Middle East and North Africa region.
Unfortunately for crypto enthusiasts, there have been no changes in cryptocurrency laws in recent years. According to the Moroccan currency bureau, it will not support “a hidden payment system that is not supported by any financial institution.” Although the law was passed in 2017, the ban did not prevent it from being passed, and Moroccan crypto enthusiasts continue to bypass the regulation, the data shows.
Nearby, the Egyptian pound is gaining momentum against the Moroccan dirham in BTC trading. Over a 30-day period, UsefulTulips shows that Egypt needs $ 20,000 to catch up with Morocco. BTC and cryptocurrency trading in Egypt remains illegal, but even if a tiny percentage of its 102 million population and 360 billion GDP are engaged in “illegal” activities, it will move the needle.
To support Morocco’s bright future, Harmattan Energy is set to build one of the largest wind farms in Africa. The goal of the giant 900 MW wind farm installed in Dakhla, Sahara region is to “provide the computing power of the blockchain.” Since mining and trading bitcoin is currently prohibited by law, the group cannot openly claim to mine bitcoin.
However, as Cointelegraph reported on a 2018 tender for the project, selling at least 20% of the electricity produced to the Moroccan government could be a viable solution. The first results from Harmattan are expected at the end of the first quarter of this year.
Elsewhere, in April 2020, Binance added support for Moroccan Dirham cryptocurrency purchases through its third-party platform Simplex. It works the same way Naira buys BTC in Nigeria. It’s not as easy to buy BTC on Binance as it is in the nearby UAE, which has direct fiat entry, but it’s a promising start.
Time will tell if Moroccan lawmakers move away from the bitcoin ban. As it stands, Morocco will continue to lead North Africa, even if it remains an underground activity.
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