How Nigerians Can Benefit From Blockchain Technology
Leveraging on blockchain technology for economic growth is seen as an opportunity for a country to maximize profit and increase trade within the region and the rest of the world. One may ask, how can a country leverage on blockchain?
Exploration of opportunities offered through blockchain technologies and digital currencies – employment, promotion of financial inclusion, faster and safer digital transactions, and minimum transaction risks, are some of the noticeable benefits of adopting blockchain innovations to drive business, regulatory and governance processes. A county’s participation in the blockchain technology global market, especially in cryptocurrencies, have the potency to fasten economic growth. Nigeria has been markedly recognized as been one of the frontrunners in blockchain adoption. According to a survey conducted by Statista in 2020, 32% of Nigerians have admitted to using or owning cryptocurrencies. If we consider this number on its own, it’s pretty impressive. It gets even more impressive when we take into account that in 2021 alone global crypto users were pegged at 300 million worldwide.
Despite the popularity of cryptocurrencies among the general population, the government of Nigeria has shown considerable skepticism and even opposition to the new medium taking root. The matter becomes more confusing when considering that the government’s stance has not been cohesive regarding blockchain technology. In February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a statement prohibiting financial institutions from dealing with and facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies and amazingly how blockchain is still booming till date.
Blockchain technology like NEAR Protocol, popularly known for decentralization as a property that allows the development of Decentralized apps (Dapps), is one of the fast leading blockchain technology in Nigeria and beyond. It enables Individuals who have technical knowledge and skill to leverage their business on blockchain, is reportedly the future of money. This is done by developing your own decentralized app on NEAR Protocol, or developing fungible tokens to represent the unique assets one can sell on blockchain, using NEP4 spec [similar to ERC 721] and seeing your business getting more awareness and coverage.
Being a developer and user friendly platform, NEAR Protocol allows developers to create markets based on assets, commodities, and real-world events (Flux). These are the projects building on NEAR, including Mintbase, a non-fungible token (NFT) minting platform
In summary, Nigeria can boost her economic growth by leveraging on blockchain technology and NEAR Protocol is seen the ideal blockchain.
