Nigeria’s peer-to-peer crypto trading is up 30% since government ban
In just three months after Nigeria’s central bank put restrictions in place that prevents anyone from dealing with anything crypto-related, Bitcoin peer-to-peer trading in the country ironically surged almost 30%. This according to data from analytics platform UsefulTulips.org.
Bitcoin peer-to-peer trading is not only on the rise in Nigeria as UsefulTulips charts show. There is also significant growth visible in Kenia and Ghana.
Commenting on the increased activity, Paxful, a leading peer-to-peer exchange in Nigeria, stated:
“The CBN requested that banks and other financial institutions close the accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. . However, as individuals are not banned from using cryptocurrencies, “peer-to-peer platforms like Paxful are not affected by the action and as a result, all peer-to-peer services are seeing growth.”
Nigeria is the most important market for Paxful and largest peer-to-peer market in the sub-Saharan region. Paxful and LocalBitcoins, the top exchanges in the region, saw almost $103 million being traded in Nigeria over the past three months. This compared to $80.6 million prior.
Although Africa’s overall crypto trading volumes are just a few percent of global volumes, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies offer significant value compared to other regions. It is considered “freedom money”. Bitcoin adoption in Nigeria is ahead of other countries. Nearly one in three Nigerian youngsters own or have used bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
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Source: igaming
