Nigeria is one of the top African countries embracing Bitcoin, as of now, it is the second-ranked country after Austria on Google search for the keyword Bitcoin. Despite all the legal uncertainties about cryptocurrencies in Nigeria, Blockstale BTM, a Nigerian tech startup company has installed the first-ever ATM in the country.
I guess most of us didn’t see this coming the same way we got a shocker from Infinix with the just-launched Note 7 gaming device. African countries including South Africa (has a total of seven crypto ATMs), Ghana has two, while Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Djibouti and Botswana each have a single BTC ATM terminal. Nigeria now houses it’s very first and the fifteenth BTC ATM in the entire African continent.
The new BTC ATM has installed at Dazey Lounge and Bar in Lagos, and Blockstale BTM is planning to expand the Bitcoin ATMs terminals across the country.
The company is developing these ATMs in partnership with a Shenzhen, China-based technology firm.
With a Bitcoin ATM in Nigeria, the crypto community can expect more developments and widespread adoption in the future.
Also, in the Nigerian crypto community, Nigerians have faced some issues lately with the KYC overhaul of the industry. We’ve seen about 220 Bitcoins or $1.38 million worth of peer-to-peer (P2P) trade between bitcoin and Nigeria’s currency on LocalBitcoins.
However, the number of Nigerians on LocalBitcoins has dropped by about 50% since the peer to peer platform strengthened it’s knowing your customer requirements around September 2019.