Nigeria is seeing increased acceptance in the CBDC nearly 18 months after introducing its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, as the country struggles with significant shortages of national fiat reserves.

Nigeria experienced a severe cash shortage as a result of the central bank’s decision to switch out smaller denomination bank notes for larger ones in response to rising inflation. Although developing countries were among the first to recognize the significance of a CBDC in modernizing fiat capabilities, the concept has not yet been implemented.

However, Nigerians were compelled to use the eNaira due to a scarcity of actual currency. According to a Bloomberg report, the value of eNaira transactions climbed 63% to 22 billion naira ($47.7 million) in a nation where cash still represents nearly 90% of transactions.

Furthermore, the overall number of CBDC wallets has increased more than 12 times since October 2022, according to Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and is now at 13 million.

The amount of money in circulation fell from 3.2 trillion naira to 1 trillion naira as a result of the demonetization. Nigeria coined more than 10 billion eNairas to offset this decline. The government’s initiatives and social programs that pay out in eNaira also aid in the growth of CBDC usage.

CBDCs provide developing nations a means of overcoming the problems caused by the fiat economy, such as lowering operating expenses and bolstering anti-money laundering programs.

“The eNaira has emerged as the preferred electronic payment channel for implementing social interventions,” Emefiele said in his conclusion.

Nigerians now have another way to buy cryptocurrency in the midst of the cash scarcity. ConsenSys, the parent company of MetaMask, recently unveiled a new MoonPay connection that enables Nigerians to buy cryptocurrency using bank transfers.

The new capability, which is available in the MetaMask mobile app and Portfolio DApp as seen in the top screenshot, makes it a great deal easier to acquire cryptocurrency in Nigeria without using credit or debit cards.