Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria dropped by 33% in 2022 due to a severe shortage of dollars, which discouraged crypto companies from expanding into the country, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Despite the exponential growth in crypto adoption, FDI declined to $468 million from the previous year's $698 million. Nigeria has a high adoption rate of crypto, with more active adult crypto traders than most countries due to the constant devaluation of the naira.

The shutdown of peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplace Paxful has left its worldwide community searching for alternatives, but it appears to have especially affected the Nigerian Paxful community. Nigeria ranked eighth in terms of crypto adoption and usage rate among 154 countries included in a 2020 study by Chainalysis. Paxful pioneered the use of peer-to-peer trading in Nigeria, helping expand the crypto industry in the country. Some members of the Nigerian Paxful community expressed their worry about the future of crypto marketplaces, while others expressed concern about getting their funds back. Paxful CEO Ray Youssef has assured users that the team is working on clearing send-outs.

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority reported a sharp drop in profit for 2022 compared with a year earlier, citing macroeconomic conditions in developed and emerging markets as well as in the local economy. 

Nigerian crypto investors using peer-to-peer (P2P) services have expressed concerns about bank account flagging by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in relation to the $6.3 million Flutterwave hack. The CBN's decision to flag accounts has discouraged P2P users from interacting with various over-the-counter markets that allow trading of securities between two counterparties executed outside of formal exchanges and without the supervision of an exchange regulator. Investors across the world use P2P as a medium of direct exchange of crypto between parties without the involvement of a central authority. Despite strict crypto regulations by the CBN, the P2P market has aided Nigerian trade, but a financial analyst known as Sadeik calls it a black market hub for scammers laundering fraud funds. Flutterwave has denied the hack, stating that it identified an unusual trend of transactions on some users' profiles and immediately launched a review in line with its standard operating procedure, which revealed that some users who had not activated recommended security settings might have been susceptible.

Metamask users in Nigeria can now directly and instantly buy crypto assets within the mobile app, Consensys and its Web3 infrastructure partner Moonpay have said. According to a Consensys executive, rolling out this feature helps to reduce friction while bringing down barriers that block or stop Nigerians from embracing Web3.

Nigeria is witnessing an increased Central Bank Digital Currency [CBDC] adoption nearly 18 months after launching as national fiat reserves face shortage.

Nigerians have been turning to the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC) amid cash shortages, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Nearly 18 months after launching its in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC), eNaira, Nigeria witnessed its massive adoption as national fiat reverses face severe shortages. 

The Nigerian economy’s cash shortage has suddenly changed the fortunes of the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) eNaira, which was once struggling to see any major adoption and traction. On Tuesday, March 21, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria said that eNaira transactions have shot up by 63% to 22 billion nairas ($47.7 million) since its introduction. Also, in comparison to the data from October 2022, the total number of CBDC wallets has also jumped by more than 12 times to 13 million. (coingape)

Nigeria’s once faltering digital currency is seeing its fortunes revived by the country’s demonetization policy that has left many citizens scrambling for alternative payment channels.