Nigeria’s digital currency eNaira reportedly Since its launch in October 2021, recorded transactions have reached N4 billion (approximately $10 million) and reached 270,000 users.
CBN President Godwin Emefiele highlighted the milestones achieved by digital currencies with eNaira. Huxon It was held on August 18th. Emefiere says:
“Since the launch of this great initiative, e-Naira has reached 840,000 downloads and has around 270,000 active wallets, including over 252,000 consumer wallets and 17,000 merchant wallets.”
He also noted that with 200,000 transactions, N4 billion worth of transactions have been completed on the platform.
Regarding the second phase of the project, Emefiele said the goal is to reach 8,000,000 active users out of the country’s more than 200 million citizens.
Adoption of e-Naira
The Central Bank of Nigeria will launch eNaira in October 2021. 40% Number of Nigerians without a bank account.
Despite the project’s ambitious vision and intentions, its adoption rate has been sluggish. From launch he got off to a good start with 400,000 wallets registered within a month. A July report indicated that adoption was hampered by the platform having only 700,000 registered wallets.
One of the reasons for the slow implementation is the domestic commercial bank’s indifference to promote the project. eNaira allows users to execute transactions without any costs. This has a negative impact on commercial banks that earn their income from fees. CBN Governor,
The low penetration e-Naira faces was predicted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Novemberwhile examining the prospects for digital currencies in Nigeria.
“The e-Naira wallet could be recognized or even work effectively as a central bank deposit, reducing the demand for deposits in commercial banks.
Nigerians go all out for crypto
In contrast to eNaira, Nigerians are more receptive to cryptocurrency adoption. Gemini According to the report, 26% of Nigerians own at least one crypto asset, helping the country lead the 2020 crypto adoption rally of 880%.
As a result of the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies in Nigeria, Naira’s official exchange is under threat. To control the deteriorating exchange rate, the central bank banned financial institutions from operating cryptocurrency accounts and even required banks to report crypto-related transactions carried out through their platforms.
Not only are Nigerians on the rise in cryptocurrency trading, they are reportedly at the top of the world’s blockchain talent.Recent report by crypto exchange OKX professional networking platform, LinkedIn, It shows a 76% increase in the number of Nigerians working in the blockchain industry from 2021.
