Development of bitcoin in Nigeria and it's economic effect

[NdaMk]

The news about bitcoin is already old but in Nigeria it is the talk of the day. With the country being regarded as the giant of Africa in both population and economy, it has the potential to lead the African continent to bitcoin mass adoption.

NIGERIA ECONOMICAL PROBLEM
Regardless of been Africa's biggest economy it has become very hard for most Nigerians to financial thrive because of multiple economic and social challenges notably the fluctuation of the exchange rate. As at the year 2020, Nigerian Naira was 361 to $1 and as today its equivalent to $1 is ₦700+. With this fluctuations people (mostly Youths) starts tending to bitcoin for easier transactions and to save there incomes.

WHY IS BITCOIN LOOKED AT ONLY BY THE YOUTH?
Although stats have shown that over 33.4Million Nigeria use cryptocurrency (mostly bitcoin) with the age of the investors ranging between 18–60, one could see that the older generation aren't paying much attention to bitcoin. This could be as a result of fear to loosing there funds to ponzi scheme. Two of the notable Ponzi scam that discouraged Nigerians from everything online (as they call it) was the MMM (happened in 2016) and Rackstali ponzi scheme. Some Nigerian lost millions of Naira into them and since then the central bank of Nigeria has warned about this kind of schemes. Although cryptocurrency is way different from ponzi schemes the old still regard them the same. Not with standing the warning some learned Nigerians didn't held back in investing into bitcoin and since then there has been no turning back. And come 2021, bitcoin worth ₦316.9Billion was traded with an estimate of about 16,000 transactions per day.


BITCOIN BAN AND WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THEN

Although on February 7th 2021 CBN banned Nigerians from the use of bitcoin (cryptocurrency at large) which lead to some investor's account been frozen in local banks. But still Nigerians still didn't give up and some of the achievements since then are;
1. More Nigerians began to pick interest into cryptocurrency.
2. Nigeria had is first bitcoin ATM in Lagos ( although the government grabbed hold of it and yet to release it)
3. The Nigerian government have started to look into the possibility of legalising bitcoin with there recent partnership with Binance Exchange.

WHAT IS BEHIND THE INCREASE ADOPTION OF BITCOIN.
1. While Nigeria economy depends on remittance and with large population not having access to Banks. Nigerians access to financial service has been limited and causing transfer of money to be costly and slow, as prompted people to look else where.
2. With the inflation happening and the constant fluctuations of exchange rates, Nigerians bitcoin as alternative solution to the storage of the fund.
3. Another reason might be since Nigeria has a relatively young population it makes adopting digital economy much easier.

BENEFITS OF BITCOIN TO NIGERIA ECONOMY ARE;
–) Better banking experience; with bitcoin, money can be transferred from Nigeria to other countries easily and at low transaction fee than the regular banks.
–) Although volatile but with bitcoin future potential, it would make sense to save some of our future reserve assets in bitcoin considering the fluctuations of Naira to the exchanges

Nigerian government shouldn't see bitcoin as a thing coming to take over Naira as the legal tender but can be use together (side by side) with legal tender and Nigeria digital currency (eNaira)
REFERENCES
Thisdaylive
BBC Africa
finbold.com


This post is opened to corrections if there is a missed up of stats

[1713421995]

1713421995

[1713421995]

1713421995

[EarnOnVictor]

A nice piece you have put together here, and always know that Bitcoin has come to stay, there is nothing any government or antagonist could do about it. As for Nigeria, the government are just naive and unwise, they rather believe in corruption than know what will make the country move forward. You can realize that around the economy and the day-to-day activity and embezzlement in the country.

You can see the way the US government is gaining through cryptocurrency because they rather regulate instead of banning. That is what the Nigerian government should have done instead of trying to "cut the head just because of a headache." Well, I love the way Nigerian people are overcoming the obstacle through other antics of usage, it is their government that is losing.

[kryptqnick]

I know that cryptos are big in Nigeria, but I must say I was surprised by such a high percentage of crypto investors there. It was allegedly KuCoin who generated this data, but the article linked by the op refers to another article that isn't the original source... If the survey was conducted by the exchange and they simply took in the responses of those who filled in their form on something, it is likely to not be representative of the whole population because people a crypto exchange can reach are already within the pro-crypto category. Of course, maybe it is representative, but in that case more than 10% of the global crypto users are Nigerians (maybe it's true, idk, but given how many countries there are, I am not sure).
In any case, I do hope the Nigerian state will finally follow its citizens and will become much more crypto-friendly.

[Gozie51]

The crypto population of Nigeria is alarming and the Nigerian government have realized that they can't stop the youth from indulging in it and that has pushed them out to start a synergy with Binance. Nigerian has youths in crypto numbering around 35 million and counting this is show casing the ineptitude of the government to take opportunity to also generate money from it through tax. I have hardly seen a youth these days that is internet frick who does not have Binance app of the phone and this is to show youth have something to do with cryptocurrency alot in Nigeria.

[NdaMk]

I know that cryptos are big in Nigeria, but I must say I was surprised by such a high percentage of crypto investors there. It was allegedly KuCoin who generated this data, but the article linked by the op refers to another article that isn't the original source... If the survey was conducted by the exchange and they simply took in the responses of those who filled in their form on something, it is likely to not be representative of the whole population because people a crypto exchange can reach are already within the pro-crypto category. Of course, maybe it is representative, but in that case more than 10% of the global crypto users are Nigerians (maybe it's true, idk, but given how many countries there are, I am not sure).
In any case, I do hope the Nigerian state will finally follow its citizens and will become much more crypto-friendly.

I actually included that image with the water mark of kucoin been there and then while referencing the articles I included the other article sources only because I feel the water mark covers that for kucoin.
Although my stats might not be enough there is also one post created here by Ratimov to add up to my post

[BIT-BENDER]

Nigeria is really a country to regard in terms of Crypto-currency. Being a citizen of Nigeria I know first hand what the interest Nigerian has on Crypto-currency. Nigeria is amongst the top 15 countries in term of Crypto-currency usage and I see Nigeria entering top 10 if a new government is elected and is more crypto friendly.

There are really many reasons Nigerians has to adopt crypto and the development would be continuous
# devalue of the Nigerian currency: the Naira which is Nigeria local currency has really lost value. Nigerians has resorted now to saving in Bitcoin or stablecoin

# technological advancements: Nigeria is shifting very fast technologically and that's because of many of its youths are developing technological skills to make themselves employed. Crypto-currency offers such opportunities.

#Safety and decentralization and so much more reasons

[Upgrade00]

Great write up and a great read. After reading the title, I was half expecting some bogus link between Bitcoin and the economy and how it can prevent a recession or some like that.

WHY IS BITCOIN LOOKED AT ONLY BY THE YOUTH?

Some reasons could be;
• They form the bulk of the population,
• They are younger and not so rooted into the traditional ways of doing things, hence they are more likely to adopt changes,
• They are more digitally aware.

BENEFITS OF BITCOIN TO NIGERIA ECONOMY ARE

Those benefits mentioned, such as freedom to transact internationally, cheaper and faster, as well as potential for Bitcoin to rise, are more of personal benefits to users and not to the economy.
It could of course grow local businesses which supplies internationally and bring in more revenue, but that would be until they convert to fiat. Same with potential ROI

[Moneyprism]

to be honest, besides the scam cases that often occur in the crypto world, cryptocurrencies have helped many people globally, especially in developing countries on the african and asian continents .. the increasingly massive adoption of cryptocurrencies in recent years has succeeded in making more people rich and helping others in their community.. i think that if the development of the crypto market continues like this in the future and coupled with good regulation from the government, i believe that the impact of the crypto economy will be even more significant especially in developing countries

[Betwrong]

It's good to see that Bitcoin is helping young peiple in Nigeria. Actually, not many people in the world realize how big Nigeria is. I myself keep forgetting that there are over 200 million people living in this country, it's because we are getting not much news from there. And in the meantime Nigeria has an impressive economic statistics:


Sourse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Nigeria

I hope the young Nigerians that are investing in BTC right now will not regret it in the future. Many crypto experts believe that now is the right time to invest, and I personally agree with them.

[avikz]

Economic impact is a subjective matter. If the price of bitcoin goes down, there will be negative impact on the economy as a lot of people will loose their investments and vice versa. So it is very difficult to conclude whether it's going to be good or bad.

Same is happening in El-Salvador. The price has gone down and that's why their president is facing a huge pressure from the citizens. If it had gone up, people would have blessed their president. It all depends on which direction the price moves.

[ingiltere]

With the introduction of the Internet into our lives, even the poor people could easily access information. Interest in crypto is much higher in poor countries because people are looking for a way out. There is a very high percentage of young people who see Bitcoin as a salvation from corrupt governments and inequality in income distribution.

Nigeria is one of the important countries in Africa and I guess the internet is very common there. It's no surprise to me that interest in Bitcoin is high among young people. I think the banking sector isn't very developed there, I understand that from what I read. This is where cryptocurrencies come into play. Bitcoin and its derivatives offer both a good investment tool and easier international uses.

[NdaMk]

It all depends on which direction the price moves.

Actually that is the first thing we preach when we try to get people into cryptocurrency here. You only invest what you can afford to lose. Someone like me only ask new comers to invest in bitcoin because of my fate in it

[noorman0]

-snip-
WHY IS BITCOIN LOOKED AT ONLY BY THE YOUTH?
Although stats have shown that over 33.4Million Nigeria use cryptocurrency (mostly bitcoin) with the age of the investors ranging between 18–60, one could see that the older generation aren't paying much attention to bitcoin. This could be as a result of fear to loosing there funds to ponzi scheme. Two of the notable Ponzi scam that discouraged Nigerians from everything online (as they call it) was the MMM (happened in 2016) and Rackstali ponzi scheme.

These are some Nigerian statistics:

Nigeria’s population by age
The median age of the population in Nigeria is 18.2.
For additional context, here’s a look at how the population in Nigeria breaks down by age group:
16.2 percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 0 and 4.
22.2 percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 5 and 12.
11.4 percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 13 and 17.
13.0 percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 18 and 24.
13.6 percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 25 and 34.
10.1 percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 35 and 44.
6.7 percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 45 and 54.
4.1 percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 55 and 64.
2.8 percent of Nigeria’s population is aged 65 and above.

Internet use in Nigeria in 2022
There were 109.2 million internet users in Nigeria in January 2022.
Nigeria’s internet penetration rate stood at 51.0 percent of the total population at the start of 2022.

Nigeria has a more youthful population (assume 18 and 34). With an internet penetration rate of 51% not sure that it has even reached old folks entirely. Not only about doubts, the reason could also be that they are not interested in internet stuff at all.

[Leviathan.007]

As we can see what's happening in Nigeria people are interested in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and personally, I have many Nigerian friends they interested in bitcoin also according to what I know about Nigeria there are some bitcoin ATMs that won't let people use them and release the machines so I guess from the information we do have the Nigerian government is completely agasist bitcoin and any economic freedom however the effect of bitcoin between people is completely clear and there is huge demand while it's still growing.

[coupable]

to be honest, besides the scam cases that often occur in the crypto world, cryptocurrencies have helped many people globally, especially in developing countries on the african and asian continents .. the increasingly massive adoption of cryptocurrencies in recent years has succeeded in making more people rich and helping others in their community.. i think that if the development of the crypto market continues like this in the future and coupled with good regulation from the government, i believe that the impact of the crypto economy will be even more significant especially in developing countries

The problem is that it cannot disengage with governments that do not have any interest in adopting technology as a ready-made package without having to interfere in it so that it can monitor the financial activity of citizens. Even developed countries whose citizens enjoy relatively financial freedom, including tax havens, are still reluctant to update their procedures regarding the use of Bitcoin and crypto in general .

[Bitstar_coin]

3. The Nigerian government have started to look into the possibility of legalising bitcoin with there recent partnership with Binance Exchange.

I find the above hard to believe among others, the Nigeriagerian government is not looking to legalize btc, or that was the reason the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) partnered with Binance.
If they have the intention of legalizing btc, there was no need for CBDC, what role with the cbdc play when btc becomes a legal tender?
The intention behind that show-off partnership was purely political and nothing more, they are looking to gain the youth's support, after all, youths are the most users of btc. And this seems to be the perfect way to gain their attention.

[Hyphen(-)]

Excellent analysis. OP, the statistics show that despite the ban imposed by the CBN and the Federal Government of Nigeria, Nigerian youths are adopting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. If all other African countries achieve this level of Bitcoin adoption, Bitcoin will be widely accepted throughout Africa in a very short period of time.

The collaboration that the Nigerian government is attempting with Binance Exchange has given the youths hope that the Nigerian government will soon consider legalizing Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general, which will be very good news for Nigerian youths.

[ginsan]

I see the Nigeria people are very interested in Bitcoin, among others, in the search keyword Bitcoin mining ranks number 1 as published by @BitcoinMagazine so that inadvertently people's interest in bitcoin grew this year.

Besides that, the big impact that is felt for the community is that they will have two choices in the context of future growth for the continuation of the family economy by knowing or having savings in the form of btc, also with the inflation that occurs in naira they can switch to saving in btc currency.

one of the strategies that will be taken by Nigeria they can learn from what is done by El savador.

Nigeria is the most optimistic country about BTC.

source : read here

[Asiska02]

The Nigerian citizens has discovered a means of surviving through bitcoin since the Nigerian government was unable to recognize the economic benefit that acceptance of the cryptocurrency will bring to the country. The majority of young people who are unemployed and struggling to find a source of income after school are now settling down as cryptocurrency investors. Even if it is not considerable when compared to the overall number of unemployed people, this has helped to lower the number of unemployed graduates.

Many youth and unemployed graduates will follow suit if the Nigerian government can actually legalize cryptocurrency in the nation. The majority of them have already seen the benefits. They are simply naive and afraid due to the government's ban on its use. Many others are simply waiting for the government to grab the bull by the horns and get their investment started.

[jostorres]

Nigeria is one of the important countries in Africa and I guess the internet is very common there. It's no surprise to me that interest in Bitcoin is high among young people.

Nigerians are always present when it comes to online stuffs. They are the same with the people in India. With the cost of smartphones that always gets cheaper from time to time, it's now possible for them or for the poor people to have one and use the internet by there to seek for information which can greatly improve their life and yes bitcoins or cryptos are one of it.

Economic impact is a subjective matter. If the price of bitcoin goes down, there will be negative impact on the economy as a lot of people will loose their investments and vice versa. So it is very difficult to conclude whether it's going to be good or bad.

I think you are right about this. Remember the first country that made btc a legal tender? It said that their country are now in debt right after the huge downfall in btc's value but I think they can recover because the value of btc can also recover. We can say that it's both good or bad depending on how one will handle it.