Google names the country most interested in bitcoin

According to the Google Trends report, interest in cryptocurrencies in many countries of the world does not decrease even with the fall in prices. In Nigeria, El Salvador, and Ghana, there has been a growing trend of Google searches for «How to buy bitcoin» for more than 5 years.

Nigeria has been in the first place among the countries most interested in digital assets, as its residents have been regularly interested in cryptocurrencies since 2017. According to analysts, more than 50% of the country’s adults invest in digital assets on a monthly basis. Many Nigerian citizens prefer to keep their savings in tokens rather than fiat currency, due to the constant devaluation of the Nigerian naira.

Nigerians are encouraged to buy cryptocurrencies by the country’s authorities, who are promoting the «Cashless Nigeria» political campaign, thus the government seeks to increase the use of eNaira, the Central Bank’s digital currency (CBDC). Back on December 6, the CBN issued a directive to financial companies stating that individuals and legal entities can now withdraw only $ 45 per day and $ 225 per week from ATMs.

Opinions differ on the feasibility and reasons for using digital assets in Nigeria. The authorities believe that by promoting a cashless payment policy, they will be able to strengthen the state payment system. On the contrary, some members of the country’s bitcoin community accuse the government of inaction: «BTC is spreading massively in Nigeria because the government does not help citizens at all, and young people are looking for any possible way to earn and save their money.»

As for the state-owned cryptocurrency eNaira, its adoption rates have been low since its launch on October 25, 2021. The country’s central bank has been trying to convince Nigerians not to neglect CBDC, as less than 0.5% of the population used the national digital asset. According to the CBDC tracker of the American think tank Atlantic Council, Nigeria is one of 11 countries in the world that have introduced CBDCs into their economies.