According to the Paxful platform, Nigeria is second only to the United States for bitcoin trading: the dollar volume of cryptocurrencies received by users in Nigeria in May was $ 2.4 billion, up from $ 684 million last year. December. An interesting article in The Guardian reports how a series of factors in Nigeria, “from political repression to currency controls and rampant inflation”, have fueled this incredible rise in cryptocurrencies. In February, the government became concerned and banned cryptocurrency transactions via licensed banks. “In late July, it announced a pilot scheme for a new government-controlled digital currency, in hopes of reducing incentives for those wishing to use unregulated cryptocurrencies.” But transactions continued to grow anyway. Nigeria has one of the youngest populations in the world and this factor certainly favors the propensity for digital finance, also to seek a way out of widespread poverty. Remittances from those working abroad, which were worth more than $ 17 billion in 2020, are another determining factor in the search for an easy and cheap way to transfer money, in addition to the search for protection against fluctuations in exchange rates: the value of the Nigerian naira has fallen by nearly 30% against the dollar in the past five years. Without forgetting the political factors: cryptocurrencies are in fact also considered as a sort of form of protection from government repression. In the autumn, Nigeria was shaken by the largest protests of recent decades which resulted in, among other things, dozens of deaths among the demonstrators. The crackdown that followed involved the entire financial system: protest groups like Feminist Coalition that were raising funds to free protesters or rescue them suddenly had their bank accounts closed. Some of these groups then began receiving bitcoin donations, even Jack Dorsey re-shared FemCo’s bitcoin donation page, attracting the ire of the Nigerian government that suspended Twitter in Nigeria. part of their finances in cryptocurrencies as a form of insurance in the event of government intervention. The Central Bank of Nigeria consequently asked the banks to close the accounts of all customers who use cryptocurrencies by identifying the beneficiaries. Obviously, transactions have mostly shifted to bitcoin, the best-known cryptocurrency that operates outside the traditional banking system. And, despite the limitations, during the first five months of 2021, Nigerians traded 50% more than the same period last year, according to data from the LocalBitcoins platform. New registrations have also increased similarly over the past year.
1 thought on “The continued rise of cryptocurrencies in Nigeria”
Comments are closed.
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/346797/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/346475/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/345993/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344441/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/345780/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/346963/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/346631/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/346554/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344532/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/346155/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344223/
https://connect.isa.org/network/members/profile?UserKey=c8d2cd24-0534-4b8a-b55d-d8620eaaf8ae
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344507/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/347005/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344881/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344658/
https://connect.isa.org/network/members/profile?UserKey=d12d3f6d-31ae-4aab-8d9c-ea4ee1a79a88
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344483/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344981/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/347089/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344312/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/345158/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/344579/
https://www.shortstoryproject.com/storyf/345768/
https://connect.isa.org/network/members/profile?UserKey=685337b2-9211-414d-9cb7-27b110366b06