The African lion is roaring as Nigeria is making good on Bitcoin initial promise of helping the little guy.
Many African countries suffer from extreme inflation, capital controls both foreign and domestic. We all have heard how Zimbabwe has suffered from rampant inflation for decades and their new local currency “Bond Notes” is considered worthless anywhere but Zimbabwe. Nigeria’s situation while not as desperate outlines the same issues well.
- Nigeria’s local currency has lost over 90% of its value in the past two years.
- Nigeria’s Central bank has instituted strict capital controls to protect its own stores of foreign currency, this means that Nigerians have lost their importing power as the central bank will no longer convert Niara’s to USD or EUR’s when they attempt to make payments abroad.
- Even local banks have implemented a maximum of $100 USD a month worth of withdrawals using bank cards.
Imagine anyone in the west living with these restrictions?
“The Nigerian people have refused to take a victim role in the currency wars. They have risen up and found a way to protect their own wealth. We are inspired by watching orindary people defy their capitol controls and help each other restore their fiancial liberty. Ray Youssef Paxful CEO”
Nigerians embraced Paxful because it is the simplest bitcoin wallet and easiest way to buy bitcoin for the underbanked through gift cards. Even though many Nigerians have bank accounts the overwhelming majority use iTunes Gift Cards denominated in USD that they buy from various sources. There are now over eight million dollars a week in iTunes gift cards flowing through Paxful and Nigerian has almost singlehandedly made iTunes Gift Cards the number one way to buy bitcoin on Paxful.
“We got into bitcoin because we knew it could help the little guy. We’ve all been looking for ways to really make a difference in the day to day lives of ordinary people with bitcoin but we never expected that the people would SHOW US. ” – Artur Schaback Paxful Co-Founder
Nigeria has leapfrogged ahead of the USA on Paxful and India and Ghana are coming up fast. Africa is leading but it is only a matter of time before South East Asia also awakens to the immense potential of Bitcoin to empower the people with true financial services.
“We are seeing whole nations wake up to the tremendous opportunity of that bitcoin gives them to have a real financial passport. Every new nation is a challenge but the Nigerian people have really set a high standard for the world in their rate of adoption”. -Jan Strandberg
“Even though Nigerians are doing just fine with iTunes Gift Cards there is tremendous potential for local Nigerians to build their own FinTech Business on Paxful by selling bitcoins with “National Bank Transfer” Nigerians can make anywhere from 20-50% profit and help their nieghbors protect their wealth by selling bitcoins.” -Elliot Hoffman
Paxful will be hosting a Conference in Nigerian on November 18th to promote the use of bitcoin to the people and government. Workshops will also be hosted training Nigerians on how to start their own FinTech business on Paxful and Stay tuned for more news.
