“Africa is the Biggest Emerging Continent for Crypto,” PIVX’s Lead Business Dev Says

As we move through 2026, the conversation around cryptocurrency has shifted from “if” privacy is needed to “how” it can be implemented responsibly. In this exclusive interview, we caught up with PIVX’s Business Development Lead, Jeffrey. He shares his unique perspective on the power of grassroots ambassador programs, the emerging role of Africa as a crypto powerhouse, and why configurable privacy is a trend to watch out for.

PIVX relaunched its Ambassadors Program last year. How has this grassroots expansion changed the way PIVX approaches business development compared to traditional VC-backed projects?

This has actually been an interesting topic with our partners, many of whom are inspired by our ambassador program and have reached out for help to set up their own. As we enter Q2 2026, I will be leveraging our ambassadors to collaborate with new and upcoming partners to deepen ties and potentially grow our footprint globally. Having an ambassador program is the best thing, in my opinion, to expand into regions that may need privacy and what PIVX has to offer.

If you could name one “hidden trend” that will define the rest of 2026 for privacy-focused assets, what would it be?

For me, this has to be configurable or optional privacy. Privacy coins have existed in the past. However, they mandated pure anonymity, which conflicts with those who want to display certain things publicly or have the option to provide a viewing key for a specific transaction. PIVX integrated zk-SNARKs (SHIELD) with the freedom of allowing balances or transactions to remain private or transparent. This means users can opt for selective disclosure to maintain compliance where necessary, whilst keeping all balances/transactions private from the public. They can also opt to use transparent transactions should they wish. This setup is the most optimal in today’s world that demands financial privacy whilst also compliance when necessary. Communities around projects like PIVX commonly discuss this approach, praising optional shielding, viewing keys for audits, and programmable privacy as the way to scale adoption without getting delisted or sidelined by strict regulatory environments.

Having travelled to several countries, where do you see the next “crypto capital” emerging in 2026?

I truly believe that Africa is the biggest emerging continent as a whole for crypto growth. South Africa, especially where numerous companies have started accepting crypto natively. It’s estimated that over 10% of the entire population of South Africa is using cryptocurrency, and when you travel there you can easily find major merchants online and in-store to spend your crypto or a wide variety of services and exchanges that assist in acquiring or using cryptocurrency.

As PIVX’s BD Lead, what is the single most important KPI you are tracking this year to measure “success” for the ecosystem?

I’m quite a nerd when it comes to the blockchain. I love to see activity! My favorite KPI then is to see inflows and outflows from new partner services. It shows the PIVX ecosystem is flourishing. For 2026, my focus will be on even more use cases for PIVX.

What has been the biggest challenge in 2025 for getting merchants to accept PIVX directly instead of converting to stablecoins?

This naturally has been payment processors not accepting PIVX. We did form a big partnership with the NOW group, which means that merchants can accept PIVX using NowPayments. However, the goal now is to get us on the top 3 cryptocurrency payment gateways. This will make the adoption of PIVX much smoother.

Is privacy a harder or easier “sell” in 2026 compared to five years ago?

I will be honest. If you are actively reading the news and keeping up with what’s happening in the financial world, you should be drawn to the idea of using privacy-protecting tools and cryptocurrencies like PIVX. Privacy will become the norm for adoption. We have seen countless issues over the past 5 years that make relying on transparent blockchains a liability. Privacy is becoming the norm.

If we sit down again in 2027, what is the one partnership or business milestone you hope to have checked off the list?

I have quite a few in mind. A major one would be a perpetual contract listing on Binance, as well as a USDC pair there. I am also aiming to expand PIVX into more regions where our ambassadors are located, namely the top exchanges in those regions.

Written by Clement Saudu