of Nigerians
own cryptocurrency
It is estimated that over 22 million people, 10.3% of Nigeria’s total population, currently own cryptocurrency.
As of Q3 2022, Africa is currently the fastest-growing cryptocurrency market among developing economies and the third-fastest growing market in the world. At this rate, many have poised Africa to be the next hub of crypto and blockchain development. At the centre of all this, Nigeria is one of the main African countries driving Africa’s crypto growth, having ranked 6th worldwide in terms of crypto-related use according to a report done by Chainalysis, a US blockchain data platform. Cointelegraph reported that according to Google and other search engine’s data, Nigerians are the most “crypto-crazy” nation as they rank first among 15 countries surveyed. This surge in crypto adoption amongst Nigerian could be attributed to a lack of access to traditional financial services. Additionally, the depreciation of their domestic currency, the Naira alongside rising inflation could be another major factor contributing to Nigerians holding cryptocurrencies as their main form of assets.
According to an April report done by Kucoin, more than a third of Nigerians aged between 18 to 60 invest in cryptocurrencies themselves. A majority of Nigerian crypto investors are below the age of 30 (52% of its investor). However, Nigeria as a country shows huge potential as these figures are gathered when only 51% of the entire population of Nigeria has access to the internet. Furthermore, Kucoin reported that cryptocurrency ownership in Nigeria showed 50% gender parity, which, unlike in other countries, demonstrates that gender demographic plays no role in the country’s adoption of the evolving monetary system.