{"id":643074,"date":"2026-04-25T15:59:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T13:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=643074"},"modified":"2026-04-25T15:59:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T13:59:41","slug":"south-africans-see-cryptocurrency-as-a-core-investment-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cryptocurrency\/643074-south-africans-see-cryptocurrency-as-a-core-investment-class.html","title":{"rendered":"South Africans see cryptocurrency as a core investment class"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans are increasingly treating cryptocurrency as a long-term investment rather than a speculative punt, Discovery revealed in its SpendTrend26 report published on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIncreasingly, cryptocurrencies are being viewed as a core investment class alongside traditional assets such as stocks and property,\u201d Discovery stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the study, which was conducted in partnership with Visa, people\u2019s cryptocurrency activity had shifted toward smaller, more regular purchases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report said this behavioural change stood out more than simple adoption growth, suggesting digital assets were becoming part of mainstream portfolio construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing the South African Reserve Bank, Discovery said that by mid-2025, around 7.8 million South Africans, or roughly 13% of the population, were using major cryptocurrency platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This indicated that crypto adoption had reached mainstream and reflected the growing role of digital assets in the country\u2019s financial landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visa\u2019s Consumer Digital Behaviour Survey also found broad awareness, with 70% of respondents in 2025 at least roughly familiar with cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey found that 54% of customers owned or had owned crypto assets, while 25% of South Africans had bought cryptocurrency and 41% said they were likely to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SpendTrend26 said mobile-first crypto platforms had lowered barriers to entry by simplifying onboarding and app-based trading, making it easier for first-time investors to open accounts and build exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That ease of access appeared particularly important for younger consumers, for whom cryptocurrency often served as an entry point into investing and broader participation in financial markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the report suggested the stronger signal was not who was entering the market, but how existing users were changing the way they bought crypto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VisaNet transaction data showed that card-based crypto purchases had moved away from large, irregular trades and toward a \u201clittle and often\u201d pattern by 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transaction frequency rebounded strongly, reaching about 2.5 purchases per active card user by 2025, which pointed to steadier behaviour and repeated contributions rather than occasional speculative bets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middle-income consumers drove much of that increase, with transaction frequency rising 26% among mass market clients and 13% among mass affluent clients in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery described its consumer segmentation as follows: High Net Worth (HNW) was the top 5% of clients, and the mass market was the bottom 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The middle 45% comprised Everyday Affluent (EA), which accounted for 20% of clients, and the Mass Affluent (MA) segment, which was the next 25%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery found that higher-income segments also showed maturing usage patterns, as Everyday Affluent clients increased 15% and High Net Worth users recorded 12% growth into 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combined with smaller transaction sizes, that growth suggested more South Africans were adopting disciplined, portfolio-style investing habits and treating cryptocurrency as part of a longer-term strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery in partnership with Luno<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Christo de Wit, Luno country manager for South Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Discovery Bank integrated cryptocurrency support directly into its mobile banking platform through a partnership with crypto platform Luno, marking a significant shift in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luno South Africa country manager Christo de Wit said at the time that the integration signalled crypto assets were moving from a niche market into the mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner also said the feature reflected existing client demand, noting that, when it launched, one in ten South Africans already held crypto assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership allowed Discovery clients to link bank accounts to Luno, buy and sell assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and track balances in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clients could also transfer funds instantly without fees, trade more than 50 crypto assets, and earn Vitality Money Savings points on Luno wallet balances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luno said the partnership could eventually extend into investment products and broader ecosystem support within the Discovery Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africans are increasingly moving from holding Bitcoin as an investment vehicle to using Bitcoin for day-to-day expenses,\u201d De Wit told MyBroadband.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans are increasingly treating cryptocurrency as a long-term investment rather than a speculative punt, Discovery revealed in its SpendTrend26 report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":643081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44696],"tags":[15844,38880,68034],"class_list":["post-643074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-discovery","tag-discovery-bank","tag-hylton-kallner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643084,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643074\/revisions\/643084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}