Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that serves as a medium of exchange through a computer network that does not rely on any central authority. It is also known as crypto-currency or crypto.
BizWatch Nigeria reports that 21% of Nigerian adult internet users identified they own cryptocurrency in Finder’s December survey which was sent exclusively to BizWatch Nigeria), this figure is lower than the 24% in the October survey.
This is despite 81% of Nigerians thinking cryptocurrencies are a good investment, which is well above the global average of 43%.
Adoption/awareness
Cryptocurrency adoption in Nigeria is ahead of countries like Ghana (17.31%), Kenya (15.78%) and South Africa (11.26%), but behind countries like Vietnam (29%), India, and Australia (23%).
Nigeria also has one of the highest awareness rates of cryptocurrencies, with 73% of Nigerians saying they’re familiar with digital currencies, behind only Australia (85%).
Key Nigerian crypto adoption trends for January 2022
- Bitcoin is Nigeria’s most popular cryptocurrency, with 41.2% of crypto owners owning the coin.
- Nigeria sees its highest global adoption ranking for Dogecoin (20.1%), coming in at 9th out of 27 countries.
- Men in Nigeria are roughly 1.4 times as likely as women to own cryptocurrency – among crypto owners, 58% are men compared to 42% who are women.
Cryptocurrency adoption statistics in Nigeria
Finder surveyed 2,350 Internet users in Nigeria in December 2021 and found it ranks 6th out of 27 countries studied.
The crypto ownership rate in Nigeria is 21.2%, ahead of Malaysia (19.9%) and Russia (19.6%). This is actually above the global average of 15.5%. Globally, crypto ownership jumped from 11.2% in October 2021 to 15.5% in December 2021.
Nigeria is among the countries with one of the lowest growth rates in crypto ownership between the two surveys, with ownership falling by 2.4 percentage points from 23.6% to 21.2%. The global growth average was 4.3 percentage points.
Popular cryptocurrencies in Nigeria
Of the people in Nigeria who said they own some form of cryptocurrency, 41.2% of crypto owners own Bitcoin, making it the most popular cryptocurrency.
The second most popular coin is Ethereum at 25.1%, with Dogecoin in third place at 0.1%.
Bitcoin adoption in Nigeria
Bitcoin (BTC) is probably the best-known name in the world of cryptocurrency, which is probably why an average of 39.1% of crypto owners globally said they had BTC in their wallets. As for Nigeria, BTC ownership came in above the global average, with 41.2% of crypto owners saying they held BTC.
This places Nigeria as the 12th out of 27 countries. Out of the five coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Solana and Ripple), Bitcoin ranks as 1st choice for crypto owners in Nigeria.
Ethereum’s popularity with crypto owners in Nigeria
ETH ranks as Nigeria’s 2nd choice for crypto with 25.1% of crypto owners holding Ethereum, which is above the global average of 24.4%. This places Nigeria 13th for ETH ownership.
DOGE ownership in Nigeria
Nigeria sits 9th for DOGE ownership globally, with 20.1% saying they own the memecoin, which is above the global average of 18.5%. As far as its popularity among crypto owners in Nigeria, DOGE ranks 3rd.
Solana adoption in Nigeria
Solana ranks as the 5th most popular coin, with 14% of crypto owners saying they hold the coin, which is below the global average of 15.5%.
Popularity of Ripple in Nigeria
Ripple ranks as Nigeria’s 4th most popular coin, with 14.3% of crypto owners saying they hold Ripple. The global average is for Ripple ownership sits at 16.8%, placing Nigeria below the global average.
