Cryptocurrency: How 1 Bitcoin Will Buy You A House And Why Nigerians Are Paying 50% premium

The price for 1 Bitcoin can buy a house in Nigeria as more cryptocurrency trading goes on in Nigeria than almost anywhere else in the world, reflecting a loss of faith in more traditional forms of investment and why Nigerians are paying a 50% premium for bitcoin.

The flagship crypto, at the time of writing, is trading at $58,885.09 (approximately N28,264,843 at the exchange rate of N480 to $1). This amount would comfortably buy a Unit of 3-bedroom apartments in Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah Lagos, according to Propertypro.ng, a top real estate listing website in Nigeria.

Nigerians also see cryptocurrencies as a way to get around foreign currency restrictions.

The world’s most popular crypto, Bitcoin, has printed gains of more than 833% in the past year, as investors troop in with bullish momentum, pushing the coin’s value near a $60,000 price level.

This adds credence to why the level of interest in Bitcoin on Google search engine is higher in Nigeria than in any other part of the world. A significant number of Nigerian millennials use the flagship crypto-asset to preserve their wealth and save themselves from the long and arduous bureaucratic processes associated with opening a Nigerian investment account.

The record gains posted by the world’s most popular crypto asset has surely endeared it to a growing number of Nigerians, particularly those seeking investment opportunities that preserve their earnings and hedge against Nigeria’s current galloping inflation.

Crypto pundits are therefore not surprised that Africa’s biggest and arguably most important crypto market is not giving up on bitcoin and is thus, ready to pay a premium to hold on to the asset, irrespective of the Central Bank’s ban.

Why Nigerians are paying a 50% premium for bitcoin

Luno’s Marius Reitz on how Nigerians are skirting their central bank’s shutdown order for bank accounts associated with crypto trading.

Bitcoin in Nigeria traded last week at a 50% premium to the price available in most other countries, after the Central Bank of Nigeria instructed banks to shut down accounts associated with crypto trading. Marius Reitz, Africa GM for crypto exchange Luno, explains what impact this has had on Africa’s fastest-growing crypto market and how Nigerians are finding ways around it.

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