Well, I went to the mall to buy a smartphone yesterday, and I saw that the shop accepts Bitcoin as a payment method. However, I wanted to pay in Bitcoin, but I couldn't because I am still holding. Although that was my first time to witness a shop accepting Bitcoin as payment in Nigeria, I know that there are stores both online and offline stores that accept Bitcoin payment.
80% of the time, based on my assumptions, these shops were quick to make posters about accepting bitcoins, but if you had tried to make your payment in bitcoins to them for what you wanted, they would have given you some excuses as to why they would not accept bitcoins at that moment, even when the poster was right there.
You fit hear some kind excuses like;
- Our Oga nor dey,
- The phone wey the wallet dey, person just carry am comot etc.
All excuses are just to make you choose another mode of payment.
Also, you know that our government has made exchanges their recent targets, making it more difficult for citizens to trade their cryptocurrency to naira. Many businesses that formerly accepted bitcoins and other forms of cryptocurrency, go dey rethink am by now.
This made me more believe that Nigeria is getting closer to the crypto space despite some difficulty with cryptocurrency and CBN. The government can not stop Bitcoin adoption in Nigeria, and even if they try their best people will still invest, sell, trade Bitcoin.
Wait until the government make an example of a few people they would find as culprits. If they send to jail a few people with regards to still involved in trading cryptocurrency, it will discourage many people from cryptocurrency, A lot of people will rather just stop anything regarding cryptocurrency, than want to be very careful so the government does not catch them.
Take the example of the naira spraying case that has recently made Nigerians more careful with spraying the naira at events.