Nigeria’s Bitcoin premium reaches 60% as the nation restricts cash withdrawals from ATMs

The price of one Bitcoin (BTC) in naira has risen to the equivalent of $38,000. BTC in Nigeria has surged to values considerably above those of the worldwide market as a result of the central bank’s ongoing attempts to convert its populace to digital currency.

The price of one bitcoin on the Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange NairaEX is 17,8 million nairas ($38,792) at the time of writing.

This is a premium of nearly 60% over the actual market price of Bitcoin, which was around $23,700 at the time of writing.

In a continuing attempt to speed the country’s transition to a cashless society, the Central Bank of Nigeria has continued to ban cash withdrawals from ATMs.

Following an announcement in December, the central bank implemented a cap on cash withdrawals earlier this month.

As on January 9, people may only withdraw a daily maximum of 20,000 nairas (about $43.50) and a weekly maximum of 100,000 nairas (approximately $217) from cash machines.

The move also occurred only days before the introduction of new naira banknotes designed to combat inflation and money laundering. The central bank stipulated that Nigerians must swap their old, larger denomination bank notes for the new currency by January 24.

However, there were long lines and protests about the lack of time to fulfil the deadline. BBC reported on January 29 that the central bank had extended the deadline till February 10.

Not for the first time has the Bitcoin premium increased in Nigeria. In February 2021, the country’s central bank prohibited licensed financial institutions from providing services to cryptocurrency exchanges, causing the BTC premium to reach as high as 36%.

According to Google Trends, Nigeria has become the #1 nation for Bitcoin-related online searches due to the current Bitcoin craze.

In addition, Reuters reported on January 26 that the Central Bank of Nigeria created a local card program to compete with global cards such as Mastercard and Visa.

The “AfriGo” card program was supposed to improve Nigerians’ access to bank card services and sidestep often-expensive international card fees and currency conversion expenses.

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