Although Nigeria has banned banks from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions, P2P trading are still up 16%

By Selena On Feb 8, 2022

Although Nigeria has banned banks from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions citing the need to protect the economy and investors, peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions are still up 16% within a year.

Despite the CBN ban, Nigeria Bitcoin P2P trades rose by 16%

According to crypto platforms like Paxful and Localbitcoins, Nigeria’s P2P Bitcoin trading volume is around $400 million. In second place is Kenya, with a trading volume of $160 million, while South Africa is third with $117 million.

Source: Coin.Dance

The Naira e-wallet hit more than 500,000 within the first three weeks of its launch, and since then, authorities have revealed that the transaction volume under the initiative is impressive. Accordingly, the crypto adoption by Nigerians grew by more than 20% in 2021, ranking the country higher than countries like Malaysia, Australia, and even the United States. This makes the African country one of the earliest to accept a national digital currency.

After realizing that the cryptocurrency ban did not prevent citizens from making transactions, the Nigerian government launched the central bank digital currency project e-Naira (CBDC) last year at the end of October.

A closer look at the data will reveal that the market is currently in a lull, possibly as the broader crypto market crash caused the digital asset’s value to plummet to new lows.

P2P crypto platforms are becoming increasingly popular in Africa due to their ability to allow crypto enthusiasts to transact directly without a central authority. Bitcoin and other digital currencies have gained traction in African countries largely due to the drop in the value of their national currencies, coupled with the weakening impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

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