In a Monday announcement, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed it had chosen Bitt Inc based on the company’s “technological competence, efficiency, platform security, interoperability, and implementation experience.” It also considered the fintech firm’s experience in the development of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s digital currency, DCash, which it launched in April. The partnership announcement comes the same day the central bank issued preliminary guidelines for its central bank digital currency.
E-nira’s value will be pegged to the value of the country’s fiat currency.
The initiative from Nigeria’s central bank, called Project Giant, will be pegged to the value of the country’s fiat currency, the naira. The CBN reportedly plans to pilot the CBDC starting in October, though the central bank in nearby Ghana is also considering a digital currency rollout soon. In February, the Central Bank of Nigeria prohibited commercial banks from providing account services to crypto exchanges. However, reports indicate that interest in cryptocurrency and trading volume in the country is still rising despite the crackdown.
Nigeria continues to be among the top countries in crypto adoption.
African countries have been among top countries in the world when it comes to cryptocurrency adoption. Nigerian cryptocurrency adoption continues to rise despite the government’s crackdown, with peer-to-peer (P2P) trade volume for Bitcoin posting its second strongest week on record in July. According to data from Google Trends, Nigeria still ranks number by search interest for the keyword “Bitcoin” as of this writing. According to Useful Tulips, P2P Bitcoin trading denominated in the Nigerian Naira has also steadily increased this year, with Nigeria ranking behind only the U.S as the second-largest market for peer-to-peer BTC trading.
