Bitcoin ATMs: Introduced in Africa’s Largest Nation, Nigeria

Blockstale BTM, the firm that has launched the ATM in the Lagos state’s Dazey Lounge and Restaurant, plans to introduce more than 30 terminals throughout Nigeria.

“Considering most of the regulatory concerns regarding digital currencies in Nigeria, Nigerians are the top cryptocurrencies merchants in Africa,” CEO and owner of Blockstale, Daniel Adekunle, informed the local press on April 1.

Adekunle has established its Bitcoin ATMs in collaboration with a Shenzhen, China-based tech firm.

Africa’s 15th Bitcoin ATM Introduced in Nigeria
Besides becoming host to Africa’s growing amount of exchange, Nigeria is the continent’s eighth nation operating a Bitcoin ATM — of Blockstale’s having to make up the 15th across Africa.

South Africa has seven crypto-ATMs, Ghana operates two, and Botswana, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe all have one terminal, as per CoinATMRadar.

As Nigeria represents the biggest economy and population in Africa, the country’s initial Bitcoin ATM may serve as a landmark for widespread continental adoption. Coinstale’s terminal is just the second West African Bitcoin ATM.

Volume Falls Following Localbitcoins KYC Inspection in Nigeria
Previous days have seen on LocalBitcoins about 220 Bitcoins, or $1.38 million, of peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange between the BTC and Nigerian Naira.

Nevertheless, after the P2P network improved its KYC criteria around September 2019, Nigerian LocalBitcoins has fallen by around 50 percent.
Nigeria already continuously leads Google’s queries towards ‘Bitcoin’ — pushing almost double as much data as the second-ranked nation, Austria, Google Trends says.

Three of the top five rated countries were African regarding ‘Bitcoin’ queries — including South Africa and Ghana placed third and fourth, accordingly.