FACT CHECK: Do 32 percent Nigerians own Bitcoin?

Claim: “32 percent of Nigerians own Bitcoin, the highest percentage in the world” Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder, 15 August 2021.

Conclusion: False. The statistics quoted by Jack was the outcome of an online poll conducted by statista in 2020 in which just between 1000-4000 respondents per country were surveyed and Nigeria returned 32 percent as people who used or owned cryptocurrency.

Triple A, a Singapore financial company, on its part, listed Nigeria as being among the top countries with cryptocurrency adoption. Its findings noted 13 million users, representing 6.22 percent in relation to the Nigerian population.

Full Text:
Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey who has been a campaigner of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency revolution in Nigeria, especially since the ban of crypto trading by the Central Bank of Nigeria, tweeted that 32 percent of Nigerians own Bitcoin, the highest percentage in the world.

Before now, Jack was well know to have sided with Nigerians on the Bitcoin revolution and was one of the campaigners for the use of cryptocurrency during the #EndSars protests.

READ ALSO: FACT CHECK: Did the Senate call for division of Nigeria?

He has also been known to be tweeting Nigeria flags since the ban of Twitter in Nigeria.

Verification:
Research about the claim led Ripples Nigeria to the statistical report by statistical from which Jack Dorsey extracted his claims. The report had concluded that 32% of the global respondents in the online survey of those who own Cryptocurrency were Nigerians.

This report has been quoted several times in the past by different media houses including BBC Africa in a report titled Cryptocurrency: Why Nigeria is a global leader in Bitcoin published in February, 2021.

Further research from Triple A shows that Nigeria is the third largest country that owns cryptocurrency with 13 million trailing behind India and USA with 100 million and 27 million respectively.

The 13 million population represents 6.22 percent of the 208.8 million total population.

Nigerian crypto owners in relation to Africa makes the country the crypto leader on the continent having 40.6 percent of total Africa crypto owners.

32 percent of Nigerians do not own Bitcoin. Indeed, credible intelligence estimates that only 6.22 percent of Nigerians own cryptocurrency.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now