35% of Nigerians Have Used Bitcoin or Crypto in the Last 6 Months

• The inclusion of social sentiment data considerably influenced the indicator’s value.
• Nigeria’s decision to develop its own digital currency surprised many.

eNaira was introduced by Nigeria’s central bank in October after the country prohibited the banking trade of cryptocurrencies in February last year. Compared to other countries, Nigeria was the first to introduce a central bank digital currency, next to The Bahamas. According to Iwa Salami, a law professor at the University of East London in the UK and a specialist on digital currencies, Nigeria’s decision to develop its own digital currency surprised many.

Adoption Rate and Interest

However, eNaira wallets will soon be open to anybody in Nigeria with a phone number, rather than only those who have bank accounts. According to a recent article by Bitcoin Archive, 35 percent of Nigerians have used Bitcoin or crypto in the last six months. That shows the adoption rate and interest in the crypto sector by Nigerians.

El Salvador became the first government in the world to accept cryptocurrency as legal cash, while Nigeria elected to build its own central bank digital currency. Since 2001, El Salvador has used the US dollar as its official currency, replacing its previous currency, the colon. On the other hand, El Salvador added bitcoin to its list of legal currencies in September 2021.

Cryptocurrency markets have reached a level of high panic according to the “Fear and Greed” indicator on Alternative.me. Due to the recent Bitcoin collapse below $40,000, the indicator’s value has risen significantly. This was previously thought to be unattainable during the cryptocurrency market’s recent climb.

Short-term traders began to aggressively sell their Bitcoins as the digital gold lost a significant portion of its value, causing fear in the cryptocurrency community. The inclusion of social sentiment data considerably influenced the indicator’s value.

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