As Naira continues to lose its value against the US dollar, Pounds, Euro, and other foreign currency., what’s the alternative for Nigerians to save the value of their hard-earned money? Research shows cryptocurrency is one of their best options, a survey has revealed.
Conducted by one of Africa’s cryptocurrency trading platform, Luno, the survey reveals that at least three out of five Nigerians who are worried about the value of the Naira are ready to keep their money in bitcoin, ethereum, BitcoinCash or other forms of cryptocurrencies.
The survey is coming at a time the Nigerian naira depreciates to N500 per 1US dollar at the black market exchange rate.
Bitcoin is the most valuable digital asset in human history. One bitcoin is worth over N9 million Naira at the time of publication.
Luno survey says Nigerians rank higher than the global average of 37% for openness to digital currency adoption.
The survey which was first conducted in 2019 included 15,000 respondents from South Africa, the UK, France, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nigeria.
Is Inflation The Cause Of Cryptocurrency Adoption?
The huge migration of some Nigerians into cryptocurrency adoption is said to be as a result of a huge decrease in the value of Naira coupled with inflation, making them to explore alternatives.
“With ongoing inflation and other fiscal challenges, we anticipate that more Nigerians will continue to explore different ways of getting the most value from their money.
“The report also revealed that 52% of Nigerians feel their local economy is performing poorly compared to the global average of 36%,” Luno’s Country Manager for Nigeria, Owen Odia said.
The survey hinted that the growing interest in cryptocurrencies represents a new openness to look beyond the traditional ways of managing and getting the most out of money.
The new report says confidence in the naira is also quickly diminishing with 44 per cent of Nigerians believing their currency will decrease over the next 12 months, “almost doubling from the report’s 2019 figures of 23%.”
In October 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in a Consumer Price Index (CPI) report stated that Nigerian inflation rate rose to 13.71% (year-on-year) in September 2020 indicating 0.49% point higher than 13.22% recorded in August 2020.
A renowned economist Prof. Steve Hanke describes the Nigerian currency as “faulty” faulting President Muhammadu Buhari for bad policies and ineffectiveness governance.
He tweeted, “#BREAKING: The faulty #Naira hit 500 NGN/USD on the black (read: free) market. That’s quite the milestone, Sleepy @MBuhari. The naira is rubbish, and #Sleepy remains oblivious. Today, I measure #Inflation in #Nigeria at 40.53%/yr. This is over 2x the official rate.”
In one of our reports, we told you how more Nigerians flooded crypto trading platforms as bitcoin surged a few weeks ago.
The new milestone set by bitcoin is culminating in the growing number of crypto trading platforms in Nigeria.