The number of Nigerians holding cryptocurrency has increased this year despite the market slump in recent months.
Finder’s latest report on cryptocurrency ownership and adoption shows that Nigeria has the second highest number of Bitcoin owners in October with 48%, up from 16.1% in the same month last year. Australia sits at the top of the table, with 61 percent of cryptocurrency owners holding Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.
Finder’s Cryptocurrency Adoption Index measures the growth of cryptocurrencies around the world through an ongoing survey of internet users in 26 countries.
A report by Coingecko, a global crypto trading platform, showed that Nigeria beat out other global counterparts surveyed to emerge as the highest search ranking country in crypto since the April bear market with over 371 search key phrases.
The value of cryptocurrencies has plummeted in recent months, with the price of Bitcoin falling from $69,000 per coin last year to below $20,000 in May 2022. It traded at $20,075.50 at 5:30 p.m. Nigeria on Tuesday, compared to $63,277 per year. behind. The crypto market crash also saw the value of Ethereum and Cardano plummet.
Financial analysts and cryptocurrency traders who spoke to BusinessDay highlighted the reasons why Nigerians, especially the youth, remain resilient in the cryptocurrency space despite the market downturn.
Raphael Idu, a financial markets analyst at CT Traders, said that there is more to investing in cryptocurrency, adding that young Nigerians, known for seizing opportunities on the internet, are taking advantage of other areas of cryptocurrency.
“We have crypto investors and we have traders. The difference is that everyone involved in the crypto market is an investor, but not everyone is a trader,” Idu said.
“The fall of the cryptocurrency market not only brings negative effects, but also has its positive aspects. When there is a dip in the market, traders tend to trade in that direction and make money on the dip, but investors lose money because they don’t know how to trade the market movement.”
According to Idu, young Nigerians are more interested because they believe in the ability of the platform to change in a short period if it is marketed properly.
“The market has bearish and bullish seasons. Many young people, especially Nigerians, understand the market very well,” she said.
Henry Izuchukwu, a cryptocurrency trader, doesn’t think it’s easy to wipe cryptocurrency from the mind of an average young man in Nigeria.
He said: “We have seen people achieve fame and wealth through the platform.
“The closure in the country and the current nature of the market did not change anything because once it rebounds, it will return with another life-changing opportunity, bringing more young people to the millionaire club.
“I will say that it is a movement that will be difficult to stop and that is why many stakeholders in the blockchain space are advocating and engaging the federal government to see why.”
Goodluck Ezinwa, a cryptocurrency investor, said that the market crash is part of the market guidance.
He said: “Most of us have our investment there and we are also investing aggressively. No matter how long the crash remains, it will stabilize and return to profit.
“I know people who have tripled their investment despite the bearish nature of the market and once it goes up a bit now it will be in their favor and that is one advantage that cryptocurrencies have over most other digital assets. It gives that confidence, even in bad times.”
Emmanuel Iwu, an investor, said that there are also crypto jobs because crypto itself is a business. “All these coins are owned by people who profit when they do well.”
According to Iwu, they always employ a lot of workers who advertise and market their products for them. Each coin has its own groups, Telegram, discord server, and others that contain people who work for them and also receive monthly and weekly payments in crypto.
Iwu said that some Nigerians buy Tether (USDT), a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar. “One USDT is currently equal to one dollar and you see how it is going up. As of last year, it was N500 to buy, but as of today, it is currently N762, which will also be recorded as crypto transactions. Not everyone likes those currencies that go up and down. We have stable currencies that give interest.”
He said that another factor driving Nigerians’ interest in cryptocurrencies is the mindset that it is better to buy now when the market is down so that there is more profit when it goes up.
“What we are experiencing now is what is called a dip, and a lot of people believe in buying coins and investing in the dip, which could even triple when the market recovers,” he said.
