The Nigerian Central Bank banned banks from assisting cryptocurrency transactions last year, citing the need to safeguard the economy and investors.
While many may feel that the restriction will stifle the expansion of crypto trading in Nigeria. Which, available data shows that Nigerians have circumvented the ban by increasing peer-to-peer (P2P) trades by 16 percent in a year.
A casual examination of Nigeria’s P2P Bitcoin transaction volumes on crypto platforms such as Paxful. Then, and Localbitcoins places the country ahead of the rest of Africa. It has a transaction volume of roughly $400 million.
Kenya is the closest country to it in terms of trading volume, with $160 million, while South Africa is third with $117 million.
A closer examination of the data reveals that the market is currently in a slump. Of course, which could be due to the larger crypto market crisis. Then, which saw the value of digital assets plunge to new lows.
Due to their capacity to allow crypto fans to deal directly with one another without the need for a central entity. Also, P2P crypto platforms have grown in popularity throughout Africa.
Bitcoin and other digital currencies have gained appeal in African countries. That’s, owing to the depreciation of their national currencies and the crippling economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nigerians adopted cryptocurrency at a rate of over 20% in 2021. Thereby, placing the country ahead of Malaysia, Australia, and even the United States.
The Nigerian government started its e-Naira central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment in late October last year after learning that the crypto ban was not stopping citizens from transacting.
As a result, the African country is one of the first to adopt a national digital currency. Within the first three weeks of its inception, the e-Naira wallet had over 500,000 users. Since then, the authorities have reported that the initiative’s transaction volume has been impressive.
However, comments from CBDC users indicated certain technical issues. Of course, which many anticipate will be resolved when the money becomes more widely used.
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