Naira Falls at I&E, Black Market as Bitcoin Reaches N10m

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, traded more than N10 million at the market on Wednesday.

During the midweek session, the digital currency rose by more than 11.3 per cent to reach N10,467,000.00, extending its gaining streak amid growing interest among big investment companies, who tapped into its bullish run.

It was not the only digital token flying high as six other digital currencies tracked by Business Post all ended the day in the positives.

The Ripple (XPR) gained 24.1 per cent to trade at N273.93, the Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 13.7 per cent to trade at N43,842.97, while the Ethereum increased by 8.1 per cent to sell at 306,010.61.

Also, the Dash (DASH) gained 4.5 per cent yesterday to settle at N49,209.83, the Tron (TRX) pulled a 5.8 per cent jump to N15.00 while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) improved by 0.6 per cent to sell for N487.89.

At the physical currency market in Nigeria on Wednesday, it was, however, a different outcome for the Naira as it lost its stability against the United States Dollar at the of the market windows.

The Naira declined by 0.17 per cent or 67 kobo against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the FX market to close at the rate of N394.67/$1 in contrast to the N394/$1 it sold previously.

This decline was buoyed by the pressure on the domestic currency yesterday following the huge request for FX as reflected by data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange.

During the session, FX worth $200.34 million were exchanged, 78.7 per cent or $88.26 million higher than the $112.08 million traded on Tuesday.

Equally, at the black market, the local currency depreciated against the Dollar by N1 to quote at N476/$1 compared with the N475/$1 it exchanged at the preceding session.

However, the Naira appreciated by N1 against the British Pound Sterling at the parallel market to wrap the day at N627/£1 versus N628/£1, while against the Euro, it gained N2 as it ended at N576/€1 compared to N578/€1 it traded on Tuesday.

At the Bureaux De Change (BDC) window, the Naira traded flat against the greenback at N395/$1, while at the interbank segment, the Nigerian currency closed flat against the Dollar yesterday at N379/$1.