Nigeria’s crypto transactions hit $59bn in one year on FX crisis

Cryptocurrency usage has continued to grow in Nigeria as Africa’s most populous country grapples with a weakening currency and soaring inflation, New York-based blockchain research firm Chainalysis said in a report on Wednesday.

The country, which ranked second overall on the firm’s Global Adoption Index, received approximately $59 billion in cryptocurrency value between July 2023 and June 2024, a 4.06 percent increase from the $56.7 billion recorded between July 2022 and June 2023.

Like other African countries, Nigeria is grappling with a foreign exchange crisis, which is driving adoption.

“About 70 percent of African countries are facing an FX shortage, and businesses are struggling to get access to the dollars they need to operate,” CEO and Co-Founder of Yellow Card, Chris Maurice said.

The firm highlighted that many people are turning to stablecoins as banks run out of dollars.

“The banks don’t have dollars, the government doesn’t have dollars, and even if they did, they wouldn’t give them to you,” Maurice noted.