According to Ray Youssef, CEO of P2P crypto app, Noones, the value of peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto transactions in Nigeria far exceeds the $59 billion that is reported.
“Peer-to-peer is probably like a half a trillion dollar business inside Nigeria alone. That’s the truth. Officially, cryptocurrency volume in Nigeria is at $59 billion a year, and that’s just all the official volume of everything that is happening on centralised exchanges that can be tracked on the blockchain,” said Youssef.
“That’s a joke; the real volume is ten times more than that. That’s peer-to-peer, and that’s not just volume that has happened.”
According to Youssef, who has founded two P2P crypto platforms operating in Nigeria Noones and Paxful, most of the P2P transactions do not happen on Binance or any other platform but on WhatsApp, Telegram, coffee shops and everywhere on the streets.
MILESTONE | Noones P2P Platform for the Global South Crosses 400K Users in Just 4 Months
The Noones app, available on Google Store, comprises three main components:
* A marketplace where users from 190 countries can buy or sell Bitcoin and stable coins with over 400 payment… pic.twitter.com/D12jq4ublb
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) December 6, 2023
“Most peer-to-peer doesn’t happen on Binance P2P or NoOnes or any of these other platforms. They happen on WhatsApp, Telegram, the coffee shops, everywhere on the streets. That’s where most peer-to-peer is really happening.
And in fact, I would even say $60 billion going through the centralised exchanges. I think most of that is actually peer-to-peer volume they are kinda covering up too because Nigerians are very crafty and have ways to use things for things they weren’t necessarily mean’t to be used for,” he added.
Youssef’s sentiments come amid an imminent ban on p2p crypto exchanges in the country. According to local reports, a new crypto regulation that will ban peer-to-peer trading of cryptocurrencies is in the works and will be introduced soon.
🇳🇬REGULATION | Local Players Expect Nigeria to Ban Peer-to-Peer Crypto Trading Soon
Already, three Nigerian fintech startups – Moniepoint, Paga, and Palmpay – will block the accounts of customers dealing in cryptocurrency and report those transactions to law enforcement.… pic.twitter.com/2pk9AjrxWJ
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) May 6, 2024
Exchanges operating in the country have been under scrutiny as authorities believe that crypto platforms facilitate speculation and potential manipulation of exchange rates. In late February 2024, the government ordered several services including Coinbase, Quidax, and Binance to stop operations.
REGULATION | Crypto Exchanges to Stop StableCoin Sales in Nigeria Amid Apparent Crackdown
“There was a meeting of crypto founders on Tuesday [February 27 2024] morning, and a number of them agreed to suspend the trades on their platform,” a person at that meeting told a local… pic.twitter.com/iiYBuYrpOu
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 29, 2024
Binance and its executives, including Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen serving as Head of Financial Crime Compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan Regional Manager for Africa, are facing four counts of tax evasion in the country.
🇳🇬REGULATION | Binance Executive to be Remanded After Pleading Not Guilty to Money Laundering Charges
Gambaryan is set to be held in Kuje Correctional Centre until the determination of his bail application on April 18 2024. The judge has adjourned the case to May 2 2024 for the… pic.twitter.com/6bxUcQGv4A
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) April 9, 2024
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