Amid a CBN ban, Nigerians trade N497 billion in Bitcoin

Between January 2021 and June 2022, Nigerians exchanged N497.35 billion ($1.16 billion) in Bitcoin, demonstrating the growing importance of the virtual currency in the country.

This is true despite the fact that the unfavourable Nigeria's Central Bank's ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country is still there.

The CBN had stated in February 2021 that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges is forbidden throwing bot Crypto traders and digital enthusiasts into sudden panic. This is in addition to earlier regulatory directives on the subject.
However, according to data made available by Paxful which is one of the country's most popular peer-to-peer platforms, Nigerians traded $1.16 billion worth of bitcoin over the course of the previous 18 months.

Nigerians transacted N428.75 billion ($760 million) worth of BTC volumes in 2021, which amounted to six million trades at roughly 16,000 per day. Inspite of the ban, Crypto lives on in Nigeria.