Blockchain.com expands into Ghana after 700% trading growth in Nigeria

The crypto brokerage said increasing demand across West Africa is driving its expansion as user activity grows across the Sub-Saharan region.

Crypto brokerage company Blockchain.com is expanding into Ghana as part of a broader push to grow its presence across Africa, following rapid user growth in Nigeria over the past year.

The company said it plans to offer Ghanaian users access to its trading platform as it builds out regional infrastructure and explores additional African markets.

The expansion follows strong growth in Nigeria, where the company launched retail operations last year and reported more than a 700% increase in brokerage transaction volume. According to the company, the most traded assets on its platform in the country have been Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT) and Tron (TRX).

The company said Ghana has also seen rising activity on its platform ahead of the formal launch, with active users increasing 140% over the past year and transaction volumes climbing 80%.

“We are actively collaborating with Ghanaian officials and regulators to help build a regulatory framework and have already established local compliance representation in Ghana,” a Blockchain.com spokesperson said.

The company said expanding local payment infrastructure will be important as it enters the Ghanaian market. “Given how widely used mobile money is in Ghana, integration with the mobile money ecosystem is a key focus,” the spokesperson told Cointelegraph.

Blockchain.com said it is building local teams to support operations, partnerships and regulatory engagement as it expands across the region. The company already operates in more than 70 jurisdictions worldwide and plans to enter additional African markets as part of its long-term growth strategy.

Data from Chainalysis shows Nigeria consistently ranks among the world’s leading countries for grassroots crypto adoption, with activity driven by remittances, currency volatility and a large mobile-first user base.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in London, Blockchain.com is a cryptocurrency platform that offers trading services, digital asset wallets and other crypto infrastructure to users worldwide.

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Crypto use has grown quickly across Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. The region received more than $205 billion in onchain crypto value between July 2024 and June 2025, a 52% increase from the previous year, making it the third-fastest-growing crypto market globally, according to a September report from Chainalysis.

Nigeria dominates crypto activity, receiving more than $92 billion during the period. South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and Ghana rank among the next largest markets. Analysts say demand is often driven by cross-border payments, remittances and efforts to hedge against currency volatility.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January, former UN under-secretary-general Vera Songwe said stablecoins are increasingly used for remittances and cross-border payments. She said traditional money transfers often cost about $6 for every $100 sent, while stablecoins can reduce fees and settle transactions in minutes.

Songwe added that persistent inflation in several African economies and limited access to banking services are also pushing more users toward digital dollar alternatives.

Earlier this month, the executive chairman of Africa Bitcoin Corporation Stafford Masie said that Bitcoin functions as everyday money in some African communities rather than primarily as a store of value. Speaking on the Coin Stories podcast with Natalie Brunell, Masie said some merchants in local circular economies accept payments in satoshis instead of fiat currencies.

Meanwhile, Africa recorded the highest median stablecoin-to-fiat conversion spreads among tracked regions in February, according to data from payments infrastructure company Borderless.xyz.

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Source: CoinTelegraph