Bitcoin can make a significant impact in Africa over the next few years, as it is the only global asset to provide financial inclusion for everyone in the world. Interestingly enough, there is only one bitcoin node being operated out of West Africa, and it is rather expensive to do so. Building bitcoin’s presence in Nigeria will be quite challenging, even though the country has seen a thriving cryptocurrency ecosystem so far. Operating an official Bitcoin node remains very expensive, though.
Nigeria Is An Important Region for Bitcoin
The vast majority of Nigerians know bitcoin because of the MMM Global Ponzi Scheme running rampant in the country. With so many people struggling financially, it is not surprising to see a lot of people fall for investment schemes which make earning a lot of money seem very easy. MMM Global recently halted Naira deposits in Nigeria and is now only accepting bitcoin from its members. It goes without saying this program gives bitcoin a very bad name.
That being said, there are some people who try to advocate the positive sides of bitcoin. Nigeria is home to only one bitcoin node, which goes to show there is still a very long way to go before people will take cryptocurrency seriously for the right reasons. This particular node is hosted on a server in a data center located in Lagos, which is quite a costly manner.
To put this into perspective, it costs 10,000 Naira – or US$32 – per month to run a bitcoin node. Keeping in mind how doing so does not offer any financial rewards, that is quite a lot of money to pay for something one gets nothing for in return. Things only become more intriguing when learning the GDP per capita is about US$3,000. Spending about 10% of one’s yearly income on running a bitcoin node is quite unusual, especially for someone living in Nigeria.
All things considered, this goes to show some people are very passionate about bitcoin in Nigeria. Although a lot of people only know cryptocurrency for the wrong reasons, it is not impossible to think that situation will change soon. Considering how the Naira continues to devalue at an accelerating pace, things are still looking positive for alternative financial solutions such as bitcoin. Financial inclusion is a scarce commodity in Nigeria, and bitcoin is the only financial tool that can provide it.
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