Binance Announces Crypto Awareness Tour in Africa as Adoption Numbers Spike in 2021

Major global crypto exchange Binance is launching the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Awareness Tour (BCAT) in Africa, a crypto awareness tour within a set location as crypto adoption continues to become a popular trend in the continent. The goal of the tour is to spread blockchain and cryptocurrency awareness as well as educate people across Africa. Besides, it is expected to facilitate the driving of real-world adoption, empowering millions of people across the continent to take to crypto in the process.

The campaign will start on June 4 from South Eastern, Nigeria. Then, it will move across Africa to countries such as Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon, etc. According to Binance's post, the event will host as many as 5000 Africans.

Binance has been a sponsor of the Blockchain and Crypto Awareness Tour since 2019 when the program was first introduced. It was backed by CryptoTVPlus, a popular blockchain and cryptocurrency media house from Nigeria. At that time, the program was mainly targeting students. Students as a whole would be better positioned on how to make lasting impacts on their societies with the myriad opportunities the blockchain technology affords its enthusiasts.

In 2020, the BCAT took place online because of the coronavirus pandemic. So far, Binance claims the educative tours have reached over 60,000 people. Among other sponsors this year, major entrants include a global decentralised finance (DeFi) platform Xend Finance, decentralised esports and betting platform Sportrex, crypto wallet service Lead Wallet, and crypto payments provider BoundlessPay.

However, the edition of this year's tour would lean heavily towards the popular play-to-earn economies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the metaverse. Although Africa is still far behind when it comes to crypto being a contributor to the economy, users have been able to use the assets as a close substitute for the failed payments systems across the region.

In a survey published in late 2021 by Chainalysis, the major drivers of adoption across Africa have been peer-to-peer payments and savings among others. Like in major developing countries, Nigerians are looking at crypto as a means to escape several policies announced by the government and inflation. The awareness tour will also seek to establish a mutual space where crypto discussions will be carried out.