South Africa has already witnessed a surge of bitcoin interest and activity as the digital currency has taken a foothold in the country. It now appears bitcoin is seeing rapid growth in other areas of Africa. Razor-Forex recently posted data from Coin Dance suggesting Tanzania and Nigeria have both seen increased bitcoin trading.
According to coin.dance, which is one of the largest online portals for bitcoin-based data, Localbitcoin trading has been proliferating in Tanzania and Nigeria since July. The Forex website echoed that sentiment: “Recent data from Coin.dance, a blockchain information portal that provides up-to-date metrics on various sectors of the Bitcoin ecosystem, suggest interest in the digital currency is rising in Tanzania and Nigeria. ”
Bitcoin growth in Nigeria
Bitcoin trading with the Nigerian naira hit record highs at 971,829,166 worth of Nigerian naira exchanged, which is the equivalent of about $3 million USD. There is not one specific reason why the Nigerian bitcoin trade has grown so rapidly, but there are clues. The Nigerian people do not necessarily have faith in fiat currency anymore. They also desire more economic freedom. A Quartz article expanded:
In Nigeria, local traders and activists believe this new money presents an opportunity to democratize the economy. This is propelled by the fact that people in Nigeria have been failed by conventional money.
Tanzania Embraces Bitcoin Fever
Many African countries like Nigeria are growing more rapidly than others like Tanzania. However, Tanzania appears to be just now embracing the bitcoin fever. Trading via localbitcoin.com has skyrocketed. A little over 83 billion Tanzanian Shillings have been traded this month. Previous months of bitcoin trading only floated between 10 and 20k.
This suggests Tanzania may be joining the rest of Africa in embracing bitcoin as the better or most useful form of currency.
