Here are three possible names for Nigeria’s planned digital currency

On Thursday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that it is exploring the possibility of issuing a digital currency by the end of the year.

The last time Nigeria introduced a new legal tender was on 1 January 1973, when Naira and Kobo replaced the Nigerian pound.

The Naira was coined from the word “Nigeria ” by Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he was serving as the Federal Commissioner of Finance.

While Kobo was derived from “Copper” a general term for coins in the olden days because of the material most of the coins were made of.

While the new currency will not replace the Naira, it will pave the way for a new way of doing business in the country.

Ripples Nigeria considers potential names for the anticipated digital currency.

Digital Naira or e-naira
The first and most obvious option is Digital Naira or e-naira straightforward and simple.

China was one of the first major economies to experiment with its own name by simply describing it as Digital Yaun, also known as e-CNY (China Yaun).

Although, Officially the currency is referred to as the DCEP – Digital Currency Electronic Payment

The China’s digital currency is mostly referred to as Digital Yaun.

Sweden, another country preparing to introduce its own digital currency, says it will be named e-krona. Krona is the currency for Sweden.

NAIRACOIN
Should the CBN decide to name the new currency based on popular cryptocurrencies. Nigeria might be getting a Nairacoin.

READ ALSO: CBN to introduce digital currency for Nigeria

And the reason is not far fetched, since bitcoin was birthed into existence, it has been followed by several similarly named cryptocurrencies, including “litecoin,” “dotcoin,” among several others.

NIGCOIN
This is another name that has been put forward by some Nigerians.

Nigeria Coin could be another obvious option for the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Meanwhile as at the end of 2020, Nigeria ranks as world’s second-largest bitcoin trader after the US

According to the latest data on trading activity on Paxful, a peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace, as provided by Coin Dance – an online platform providing Bitcoin statistics and services – Nigeria traded bitcoins worth more than $566 million between 2015-2020.

The volume of bitcoin trades in Nigeria was 10 times more than that of Kenya, the second-largest African bitcoin market, trading 5,895 bitcoins worth $55.3 million in the last five years.

The third largest market on the continent is South Africa with 1,802 bitcoin trades valued at $18.9 million.

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