Data on the analytics platform Google Trends shows that Nigerians are becoming more interested in buying Bitcoin than investors in the United States.
Source: Google Trends
The chart above shows the average level of interest in the search query – How to Buy Bitcoin – among Nigerians and Americans over the past five years.
On a scale of 0 to 100, the level at which Nigerians searched for the search query mentioned earlier was 42, as of December 17th. The majority of Nigerians interested in Bitcoin are based in the southern part of the country. Delta and Bayelsa states held the largest figures.
In early May 2020, the average level of Nigerians who searched for the phrase attained 100 on Google Trends’ chart.
The chart further shows that Americans have shown a continuously reducing interest in ways to buy Bitcoin. On Google Trends’ chart, Americans saw only 10 as its average level of search for the phrase – How to Buy Bitcoin.
Most of the Americans who searched for How to Buy Bitcoin were based in California, New York, Nevada, Montana, and several other cities in the country.
KuCoin Survey: 35% of Nigerians Are Crypto Investors
In April, crypto exchange KuCoin released a survey showing that one-third of Nigerian adults hold or have traded cryptocurrencies within six months.
KuCoin’s data revealed that 33.4 million Nigerian adults between the ages of 18 and 60 have invested in at least one cryptocurrency. This number of citizens accounted for 35% of the country’s total adult population.
A September report by a local Nigerian newspaper firm, The Punch, revealed that 27% of Nigerians using the internet own at least one cryptocurrency.
Nigeria and Crypto
In February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a statement prohibiting local banks from facilitating crypto-based transactions. Defaulters were penalized by the financial agency.
Despite its initial stance on cryptocurrencies, Nigerian financial authorities have now begun to look at adopting the asset class.
On December 18th, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Babangida Ibrahim, noted that a law would soon be passed allowing the free use of digital currencies like cryptocurrencies in the country. Cryptocurrencies will then be recognized as capital for investments.
