Blockstale BTM, the company that installed the ATM in the Dazey Lounge and Bar in Lagos state, plans to launch more than 30 more terminals across Nigeria, Africa’s largest country, to welcome its first Bitcoin ATM.

Blockstale BTM, the company that installed the ATM in the Dazey Lounge and Bar in the state of Lagos, plans to launch more than 30 terminals across Nigeria, the largest country in Africa, to host its first Bitcoin ATMs.

“Despite all the legal uncertainties about cryptocurrencies in Nigeria, Nigerians happen to be the highest crypto traders in Africa,” Blockstale’s chief executive and founder, Daniel Adekunle, told local media on April 1.

Adekunle said Blockstale has developed its Bitcoin ATMs in partnership with a Shenzhen, China based tech firm.

Africa’s 15th Bitcoin ATM Installed in Nigeria

Despite being home to Africa’s largest volume of trade, Nigeria is the eighth country on the continent to host a Bitcoin ATM — with Blockstale’s making up Africa’s 15th place.

South Africa has seven crypto-ATMs, Ghana hosts two, and Botswana, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe each have one terminal, according to CoinATMRadar.

With Nigeria comprising the largest economy and population in Africa, the country’s first Bitcoin ATM may serve as a signpost for broader continental adoption. Coinstale’s terminal is just the second West African Bitcoin ATM.

Recent weeks have seen on LocalBitcoins about 220 Bitcoins, or $1.38 million, of peer-to-peer (P2P) trade between the BTC and Nigerian Naira.

However, since the P2P platform strengthened its KYC requirements during September 2019, Nigerian LocalBitcoins has fallen by about 50 percent.

Nigeria also consistently tops Google’s searches for ‘Bitcoin’ — driving almost twice as much traffic as the second-ranked country, Austria, Google Trends says. Three of the top five ranked nations are African for ‘Bitcoin’ searches — with South Africa and Ghana ranked third and fifth, respectively.

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