Nigerian millennials and fintech startups are now fast adopting cryptos, especially when Nigerian youths seek police reforms. This is because it offers them the needed security and far cheaper transaction fees against using fiat currencies.
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- Recent data shows that the use of Bitcoin for peer to peer lending in Nigeria among its Millenials, and startups are on an exploding run.
- Statistics obtained from usefultulips, a BTC analytic data provider, revealed that Nigeria leads Africa’s peer to peer lending in 2020, posting weekly P2P volumes of between $7 million, followed by South Africa and Kenya posting about $2 million weekly.
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Timi Ajiboye, a co-founder of Buycoins.africa, a leading crypto exchange in Nigeria, spoke via his Twitter feed about the advantage crypto has over fiat currencies like the naira, at this time when Nigerians are agitating for police reforms.
He opined:
“They have the power to shut down centralized exchanges that use payment processors (who are already under fire). But they cannot shut down non-custodial wallets & P2P exchanges that don’t handle fiat. No one can. That is the power of Bitcoin.”
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They have the power to shut down centralised exchanges that use payment processors (who are already under fire). But they cannot shut down non-custodial wallets & P2P exchanges that don’t handle fiat. No one can. That is the power of #Bitcoin #EndSarsNow
— Timi (@timigod) October 13, 2020
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Jens Ischebeck, a renowned Fintech publisher, in a note shared with Nairametrics, gave vital insights on why Africans are fast adopting crypto, and the advantages that crypto assets bring:
“Most African citizens have started shifting their hopes to the use of crypto, to escape numerous constraints faced with the traditional money transfer services, including cost, speed, and inconveniences.”
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Recall that Bundle, a social payment app for cash and cryptocurrencies, had set up three cryptocurrency wallets for fundraising aimed at supporting the victims of SARS brutality and the protesters of the EndSARS movement.
The company also made some contribution of NGN 1,000,000 (2,145 BUSD) to support the cause.
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1/ The Bundle team has set up three cryptocurrency wallets to raise funds globally in support of #EndSARS protestors and victims of SARS, and we have contributed 2,145 BUSD (~NGN 1,000,000) to the fund. pic.twitter.com/oqvK5ZmF7A
— Bundle (@BundleAfrica) October 10, 2020
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Adebayo Juwon, Marketing Lead, FTX Africa, in an exclusive note to Nairametrics, spoke on the advantages that cryptos offer in today’s world. He said:
“Business owners are always seeking for means to scale their businesses, getting a competitive edge over others while being profitable at the same time. Recently, many of the top companies across the globe have been working towards achieving their goals with Blockchain technology.
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So, it not surprising that a significant number of young Nigerians and small business owners avoid Nigerian banks, because of their stringent capital controls on outflows, relatively high transaction costs, and inflexible exchange rate system.”
That said, it’s fair to say Nigerian millennials are fast adapting to the most disruptive financial asset in the modern era.
The truth is crypto currencies is the future of unstable Nigeria and the world. China is the first country to fully understand this and are keying to it fully.