Key Takeaway
- Nigeria Bitcoin p2p transactions hit record $38 million
- More traders moving to p2p platforms to circumvent government crypto ban
- Nigerian government set to launch digital Naira
When Nigeria issued the crypto ban in February, it was expected to stifle the fast-growing markets; however, it has managed to achieve the opposite since traders have boycotted the ban primarily by using P2P platforms.
P2P platforms facilitate transactions between parties by providing secure escrow platforms, and they appear to be getting tractions. For example, data from Paxful and LocalBitcoins suggests that the volumes generated have hit record highs.
Cryptocurrency-related transactions have increased in Nigeria despite the bearish market that has lost more than 50% of its value. The $38 million recorded in June was about 9% higher than May’s record of $35 million.
It is understood that the data could be more than the reported value since it did not take into account information from Remitano and Binance, two of the largest p2p platforms in Nigeria. Therefore, we can conclude that cryptocurrency adoption in the African nation has been increasing exponentially after the ban.
This could result from the local currency (Naira) suffering from inflation and losing more value in the market. As a result, citizens have been forced to invest their money in other assets, and bitcoin is viewed by many as a safer digital asset.
The Nigerian government appears to be seeing the potential and intends to launch its digital currency in the future. However, it remains to be seen whether digital currency would have a similar sway like cryptocurrencies. The lack of stable financial policies is likely to deter many from using the digital naira and rising inflation rates. Regardless, the crypto revolution is on, and Nigerians are fully onboard the train.
What do you think about the record bitcoin transactions in Nigeria?
