Cryptocurrency is not something the residents of Africa are unfamiliar with, at least according to the statistics presented by the Chief Operating Officer of Blockchain Solutions Limited, Lucky Uwakwe, during the recent Luno Meet named ‘Building Trust in the Nigerian Cryptocurrency Market’ held in Nigeria. The panel, attended by the nation’s top crypto professionals, was held to discuss the best ways to expand the usage of blockchain technology in the country and across the continent.

Uwakwe stated that crypto is spreading across the globe and 65% of Nigerians are already aware of it. He cited a research from Luno Nigeria that showed 25% of people participating in the study owned crypto in some form. Moreover, 51% of them treated crypto as an investment, while 16% utilised cryptocurrencies to make online payments or purchases. 19% of the participants used crypto for remittance or transferring money in the form of crypto back to their home towns.

Although the statistics did not have any real reliability to it, Uwakwe cited the research to emphasize the importance and significance for the country to develop crypto and blockchain technology to be able to compete on a global stage. Using Bitcoin as an example, he said that BTC is the first peer-to-peer-technology-based cryptocurrency that serves multiple purposes such as making payments, investments or even transferring money.

Another expert who spoke at the event was Owenize Odia, Nigerian country manager and blockchain expert. He discussed several things on the topic, including how the unique nature of crypto being decentralized and universal could fulfil the people’s need and improve the country’s economy. When asked what impact regulatory actions would have on the crypto sector and whether it would help build trust in people towards crypto, Odia responded saying: “Regulation is key but should be county specific, since it can bring about credibility to market, even though banks try to distant their operations from cryptocurrency.”

It seems that in the future, Nigeria would become a country which would actively implement blockchain technology in its industries seeing how experts are on the same boat that crypto will benefit the country’s economy greatly.