Nigeria’s eNaira CBDC Goes Live

The eNaira was developed by fintech company Bitt, whose digital currency management system is also behind the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s CBDC.

AccessTimeIconOct 25, 2021 at 3:12 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. UTC
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Nigeria’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, is live following an announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.

  • The official unveiling of the eNaira – designed to complement Nigeria’s physical currency, not replace it – took place Monday; it had been announced last week.
  • The eNaira was developed by fintech company Bitt, whose digital currency management system (DCMS) is also behind the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s CBDC.
  • Two applications for using the CBDC – eNaira speed wallet and eNaira merchant wallet – are available for download from the Google and Apple app stores.
  • The eNaira was originally slated for launch on Oct. 1, but was delayed in deference to the 61st anniversary of Nigerian independence that same day.
  • Some 500 million eNaira ($1.21 million) have already been minted, central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said at the official launch.
  • Nigeria’s government and central bank struggled with the rise of cryptocurrency in the country, leading to a ban on crypto transactions within the banking sector in February. Four months later, plans were announced to introduce the eNaira.

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Jamie Crawley

Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.


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