According to the survey, it was found that Nigerian citizens are actively purchasing bitcoin (BTC) cryptocurrency. Experts noted that the popularity of virtual currencies has increased, as Bitcoin and stablecoins solve many problems of the local population, due to the instability of the local unit of payment – the naira.
The collapse of Nigeria’s national currency has prompted many Nigerians to use alternatives. Peer-to-peer exchange LocalBitcoins recorded a 258% increase in BTC purchases compared to last week.
The frenzy came amid statements from the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, who warned bank customers, dignitaries and politicians to refrain from exchanging naira for U.S. dollars. He assured: a special surveillance system will track all illegal transactions, and punish those who do not comply with the rules.
Representatives of the Paxful trading platform also confirmed that Nigerian citizens have shown a growing interest in cryptocurrencies in the first half of this year. They said trading volume last year was more than $760 million, with 2 million unique Nigerian users registered. However, in the first few months of this year, locals made transactions worth about $400 million, indicating a positive trend.
Analysts stressed that in addition to Nigerians, increased interest in cryptocurrencies began to show residents of Turkey and Argentina, which in recent months also faced the collapse of the local economy.