Luno, the global cryptocurrency platform, has today announced
the findings of a new global survey which revealed that nearly 3
out of 5 Nigerians are ready to adopt a global digital currency,
reflecting the country’s growing interest in cryptocurrencies since
the start of the global pandemic. Nigerians also rank higher than
the global average of 37 percent for openness to digital currency
adoption.
The survey, which included 15,000 respondents from South Africa,
UK, France, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nigeria, was first
conducted in 2019 and then repeated in 2020. It also forms the
basis of Luno’s “Trust and Uncertainty in 2020” report which
explores how the attitude towards governments, money and the
decision making by central banks have changed since last year.
According to the survey, 54% of Africans think a single global
currency would make their financial system better, compared to 41%
for Asia and 35% for Europe. Looking at the responses in total,
across all the countries in the survey, respondents expressed a
more negative sentiment on the development of their local currency
than last year. 40% believe their local currency will decrease in
value over the next year, while 31% think it will stay the same and
only 29% see an increase going forward. Hence, the majority are
anticipating a decrease in their local currency which is leading
many to explore alternatives.
Speaking on the rising interest for cryptocurrencies in Nigeria,
Owen Odia, Luno’s Country Manager for Nigeria, says “This year,
we’re seeing a level of uncertainty that hasn’t been seen since the
2007-8 global recession and with this, there’s been a wave of
Nigerians making their first steps to learn about cryptocurrencies.
The growing interest in cryptocurrencies represents a new openness
to look beyond the traditional ways of managing and getting the
most out of your money, and exploring other useful
opportunities.”
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“People have had more time to research the benefits of
cryptocurrencies and how they present a viable solution to many of
Nigeria’s challenges around high inflation, currency volatility and
a limited banking infrastructure. With ongoing inflation and other
fiscal challenges, we anticipate that more Nigerians will continue
to explore different ways of getting the most value from their
money.”
“The report also revealed that 52% of Nigerians feel their local
economy is performing poorly compared to the global average of 36%.
Confidence in the naira is also quickly diminishing with 44% of
Nigerians believing their currency will decrease over the next 12
months – almost doubling from the report’s 2019 figures of 23%.
However, in the midst of all the financial chaos, bitcoin has
emerged as an attractive alternative to fiat money – for its
deflationary properties and it’s startling performance over the
last year (up 145%). Increasingly institutional investors,
traditional finance players and companies are adding Bitcoin to
their balance sheets.
Discussing the emergence of bitcoin in recent months, Marius
Reitz, General Manager for Africa at Luno, says “There’s a fresh
impetus to educate ourselves as our current financial system is
looking increasingly ill-equipped to overcome the challenges.“With
lowering interest rates, you don’t want to be in a situation where
you don’t earn any interest on your money and lose purchasing power
for every year that goes by.”
“Therefore, at Luno we’ve launched a savings wallet allowing
customers to earn up to 4% interest per year on their bitcoin. We
encourage our customers to learn as much as possible about
investing and consider how they can maximise their savings.”