Outside Nigeria, people hear "Nigeria loves crypto" and picture everyone holding Bitcoin. On the ground it looks different.
What I see around me:
- Most people don't call it Bitcoin, they call it "crypto" or "USDT". Many who use it are really looking for a dollar hedge, because the naira has lost so much value since 2023.
- P2P is how people get in and out. Bank transfers to strangers on P2P markets are normal, and so is the fear of a frozen account or a scam buyer.
- Lightning is almost unknown. Most people I talk to have never sent sats in seconds for almost nothing. When I show them, the reaction is always the same: why is nobody using this?
- Trust is the real barrier. Years of Ponzi schemes and fake "mining" apps make people suspicious of anything that says Bitcoin.
I'm stacking sats slowly myself and trying to explain Lightning to friends and family in Igbo and English.
Question for stackers: what's the simplest way you've seen to get a total beginner using Lightning for the first time? I want to try it here.
Does this mean that most people first get bitcoin from another individual rather than buying it from some sort of exchange?
Ecash wallets have worked well for me as easy onboarding. But the new bark wallets (Noah, shhark) also look like easy ways to onboard newbies.
Yes, mostly. The usual path is a P2P market where you send naira by bank transfer to a stranger and they release USDT or BTC from escrow. Some people start on an exchange app, but they still cash out through P2P. Buying straight from a friend you trust is common too, because nobody wants a frozen bank account.
Thanks for the wallet tips. Ecash sounds perfect for first-timers here, since there's no channel setup to explain. I'll try Noah with a few friends and report back on how it goes.