Digital Currency Adoption in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest volume of trade in digital currency worldwide after the United States of America, with over $500 million dollars. This shows that there are possible opportunities to harness in the sector while taking several steps to limit the threats. The objective of this chapter is to discuss digital currency adoption in Nigeria with particular emphasis to its determinants of adoption, opportunities, and threats/risks. Factors determining adoption include socioeconomic status, expectations on the profitability, and stability of the naira. Opportunities include employment and ease of payments, especially for international trade. Unregulated nature and anonymity/secrecy are the major threats identified which enhance illegal activities that cannot be traced easily. Cross-country overview shows that some countries such as Iran and China have out-rightly banned cryptocurrency in their countries, but users still maneuver their ways to invest in the sector; therefore, outright ban will still not remove the threats in the long run.