Paxful‘s database has revealed Nigeria as one of the world’s leading bitcoin-trading countries. Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, has traded bitcoins worth more than $566m between 2015-2020, making them the second biggest Bitcoin nation in the world and the biggest bitcoin trader in Africa.
Nigeria has traded more bitcoins than any other country worldwide (60,215 BTC). Only the US has traded more bitcoins (535,660 BTC).
2020 saw more bitcoin trading in Nigeria than ever before, with a bitcoin trade worth $213,719,383.
There has been a steady increase in traded bitcoins from January 2020 to August 2020, with July seeing an all-year high in trading (2,664.8 BTC).
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Nigeria is one of the leading bitcoin-trading countries in the world
Nigeria has traded bitcoin worth more than almost any other country ($566,668,692), beating the likes of other key bitcoin nations such as China, the UK and India. Only the US has traded for a higher amount ($3,755,463,837).
| Volume (USD) | Volume (BTC) | ||||
| Ranking | Country | Volume USD | Ranking | Country | Volume BTC |
| 1 | USA | $3,755,463,837 | 1 | USA | 535,660 |
| 2 | Nigeria | $566,668,692 | 2 | Nigeria | 60,215 |
| 3 | China | $181,329,392 | 3 | China | 20,553 |
| 4 | Canada | $131,108,721 | 4 | Canada | 15,367 |
| 5 | UK | $119,440,278 | 5 | UK | 11,169 |
| 6 | India | $94,794,948 | 6 | India | 10,017 |
| 7 | Australia | $75,643,905 | 7 | Australia | 7,050 |
| 8 | Kenya | $55,292,942 | 8 | Kenya | 5,895 |
| 9 | Philippines | $22,733,649 | 9 | Vietnam | 3,323 |
| 10 | South Africa | $18,935,812 | 10 | Philippines | 2,121 |
Nigeria; Africa’s Highest Bitcoin Trader
Nigeria has traded 10 times higher than Kenya and (Nigeria) has recorded 60,215 bitcoins trades which is the highest in Africa.
| Volume (USD) | Volume (BTC) | ||||
| Ranking | Country | Volume USD | Ranking | Country | Volume BTC |
| 1 | Nigeria | $566,668,692 | 1 | Nigeria | 60,215 |
| 2 | Kenya | $55,292,942 | 2 | Kenya | 5,895 |
| 3 | South Africa | $18,935,812 | 3 | South Africa | 1,802 |
| 4 | Morocco | $2,062,062 | 4 | Morocco | 306 |
| 5 | Tanzania | $164,461 | 5 | Tanzania | 16 |
More bitcoins were traded in 2020 than before in Nigeria
Even though the year including the pandemic is not over, 2020 has seen more bitcoin trading in Nigeria than ever before, with 20,504.50 BTC being traded – this is a 20% increase from 2019.
The bitcoin trading industry in Nigeria was worth $213,719,383 in this year alone, which marks an increase of 102% from 2019.
| Year | Volume USD | Increase YoY | Volume BTC | Increase YoY |
| 2017 | $65,299,758 | NA | 8,324 | NA |
| 2018 | $181,588,262 | 178% | 14,302 | 72% |
| 2019 | $106,061,289 | -42% | 17,084.20 | 19% |
| 2020 (January 1- November 14) | $213,719,383 | 102% | 20,504.50 | 20% |
Bitcoin trading increased in Nigeria during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic
There has been an increase in bitcoin trading in the year 2020 from January to July, with July seeing an all-year high in trading (2,664.8 BTC).
Nigeria saw its highest increase of traded bitcoins during the lockdown months, with 30.8% more bitcoins being traded in May than in April.
August witnessed the highest volume of USD trading ($30m).
The volume of bitcoins and USD have decreased since August, with October being the month with the least total trades of bitcoins since January.
| Month | Volume USD | Volume BTC |
| January | $10,820,553 | 1,463.5 |
| February | $15,242,658 | 1,745.8 |
| March | $11,586,783 | 1,752.5 |
| April | $13,112,650 | 1,813.8 |
| May | $23,952,972 | 2,372.4 |
| June | $27,556,908 | 2,602.1 |
| July | $28,407,273 | 2,664.8 |
| August | $30,984,846 | 2,275.4 |
| September | $21,360,487 | 1,722.1 |
| October | $21,993,755 | 1,609 |
| November (1 November – 14th November) | $8,700,499 | 483.2 |
