Demand for Bitcoin (BTC) in Nigeria is soaring as fiat currency is set to become invalid. Due to this increased demand, BTC is trading at a premium of up to 163.77% in Nigeria.
At the time of writing, peer-to-peer traders are selling BTC at the highest price. $62.499 at LocalBitcoins. This is 163.77% above his current BTC price of $23,694.
According to LocalBitcoins, BTC trades at an average price above $38,000, with Nigerians having to pay a minimum 60% premium amid surging demand.
On Paxful, BTC trades between $28,000 and $39,300 domestically, representing a premium of 18.1% to 65.8%.
In February 2021, the BTC premium rose to around 36% when the Central Bank of Nigeria banned financial institutions from providing services to cryptocurrency exchanges.
What’s Driving BTC Demand in Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced an obsolescence program that will invalidate the current fiat currency in 2022. The move was intended to curb counterfeit goods, inflation and money laundering.
Following the announcement of the closure, banks began imposing limits on the amount of cash Nigerians can withdraw from ATMs. The country is also looking to boost adoption of her eNaira, a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
On January 29, the financial authorities pressed Old banknotes are due from January 31st to February 10th. Nigeria is currently short on cash as banks try to replace old notes with new ones.
As of January, Nigerians can only withdraw about $44 per day from ATMs.
Growing interest in BTC
Following the de-monetization and restrictions on cash withdrawals, Nigerians are increasingly interested in BTC. Nigeria currently has the highest number of her web searches for the phrases “buy bitcoin” and “how to buy bitcoin”. Google Trends.
