Buycoins Africa, a Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange is having a swell time, despite the downturn in cryptocurrencies. Co founder of the firm Timi Ajiboye in a few tweets from his handle disclosed that the firm had recorded over ₦500 million worth of transactions since the app was launched in July.
I sometimes cannot believe the fact that people have traded over half a billion Naira of cryptocurrency with an app we built. Just in the last couple months.
— Timi Ajiboye (@timigod) October 18, 2018
With the initial website (https://t.co/rxPsqgB0Ee), it took more than a year to get to half of that.
— Timi Ajiboye (@timigod) October 18, 2018
Merry times all around
Other operators such as Luno, Ice3XX and Tanjalo may equally be witnessing large volume transactions daily, an indication shows Nigerians continue to trade heavily in cryptocurrencies.
Data from coin.dance shows BTC trading volume continues to remain robust, despite the price crash.
A Bearish Year
2018 has been a bearish year for cryptocurrencies. Year to date, bitcoin (the largest cryptocurrency by market cap and most commonly used) is down 51.6%.
For other cryptocurrencies, the fall has been much harder. Total market capitalisation (excluding bitcoin) fell by 74.7% from $376 billion in January to $95 billion in October.
Buycoins.africa enables individuals to trade in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin cash, through a mobile app.
Here is a step by step guide on how to buy bitcoin in Nigeria.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has, however, warned Nigerians to exercise caution in trading cryptocurrencies as they do not fall under its regulatory purview. CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele in an interview this year, likened trading in them to gambling.
The apex bank last year issued a circular warning banks against trading in them, but held several stakeholder sessions to get a better understanding of the industry. A white paper on the discussions is billed to released any time from now.