Despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions in the country, Nigerians traded at least N77.75bn ($185m) worth of Bitcoin in the first three months of the year.
This is a 5.71 percent increase from the N73.54bn worth of Bitcoin that was traded in the corresponding period of 2021.
These statistics are according to data made available to reporters by Paxful, one of the major peer-to-peer cryptocurrency platforms in the nation.
Trade from Nigeria accounted for 25.87 percent of the total N300.48bn ($715m) worth of Bitcoin that was traded on the platform in the quarter under review.
Global trade on the platform showed an 8.33 percent increase from the N277.377bn ($660m) that was traded on it in the corresponding period of 2021.
According to the firm, Nigeria was its largest trading country in 2021 with 16,000 daily trades. In the period under review, the market cap of BTC dropped by $36.90bn from $902.10bn as of January 1, 2022, to $865.20bn as of March 31, 2022.
This was despite the CBN’s restrictions on cryptocurrencies in the nation. In February of 2021, the CBN asked banks in the nation to stop transacting in and with entities dealing in crypto assets.
The bank said, “Further to earlier regulatory directives on the subject, the bank hereby wishes to remind regulated institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges is prohibited.”
