El Salvador Outshines Nigeria in Bitcoin Interest
Different types and variants of cryptocurrencies have gained popularity in different regions around the globe. For Nigeria, stablecoins are ranked as the top cryptocurrency on account of their nationwide adoption.
The main reason for the popularity of stablecoin in the nation is that they are pegged to the US dollar and works as a hedge against inflation and devaluation of local fiat namely Naira.
However, South American nation Brazil recently surpassed Nigeria in terms of Bitcoin interest rankings. As per Google Trends, the Bitcoin investment ratio in Brazil has outranked the largest economic region of Africa.
However, El Salvador has retained the top position in terms of most active Bitcoin investors and demand. As per the data projections from Brazil, the total number of Bitcoin investors hailing from Nigeria has continued to shift from USDT to Bitcoin.
In 2022, El Salvador remained the topmost region for Bitcoin adoption with Nigeria placed on second, and Brazil retaining the third spot. At the same time, El Salvador has continued to retain the top position in terms of Bitcoin interest for both 2022 and 2023.
El Salvador’s Freedom VISA Introduces Citizenship-by-Donation Program
El Salvador has initiated a new program called Bitcoin freedom VISA that allows investors to get citizenship status in the region based on donations. The government has opened the project for 1000 applicants who may claim residency in the region in exchange for $1 million Bitcoin or USDT donations addressed to the national trust.
In the same manner, Itau Unibanco, the biggest private banking firm in Brazil also launched Bitcoin and Ethereum services in December this year. The new services were introduced when regulators of the Latin American nation implemented regulatory amendments.
Luiz Inacio Lua da Silva, President of Brazil signed the new laws on 12th December. The new regulations added cryptocurrencies as taxable products for the out-of-country Brazilian citizens.
Meanwhile, Nigerian cryptocurrency investors have continued to increase stablecoin investments to leverage forex exchange rates of USD. Investors hailing from the region have cited using stablecoin as hedge against the devaluation of fiat as the main reason for the rise in trading volume.
Crypto Trading Volume Surged in Nigeria
The Geography of Cryptocurrency report published by Chainlysis in 2023 cited that peer-to-peer trades of naira for USDT spiked during the ongoing year. As per the statistics, the number doubled in comparison to the starting point since the start of the year.
The Central Bank of Nigeria implemented an exodus of regulated banks from participating in crypto-related activities on account of unregulated transaction volumes two years ago.
However, Nigeria has continued to retain a considerable portion of cryptocurrency trading volume in the pretext of bank-payments blockade. Meanwhile, crypto trading volumes in regions such as the UK, Brazil, and UAE have dwindled for the same duration.
At the same time, Nigeria has continued to print massive cryptocurrency interest in Africa and across the globe. The annual growth rate of crypto trading volume in the region has been noted at 9% as per Chainalysis report.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin trading interest has declined in the African nation ranking it among the top 3 nations across the world with a consistent trading volume incline since 2021. It is interesting to note that various Nigerian banks acting as licensed custodians have launched a new stablecoin named cNGN.
This stablecoin is pegged to and backed by Nigerian Naira. However, it is not a substitute for CBDC eNaira and offers features such as interoperability and fast remittances.
