It’s weird to think that a country that has truly embraced Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies as a whole, only did so at the beginning due to a scam that saw up to 3 million people (estimated) getting robbed. This is the case in Nigeria where from late 2015 to the end of 2016, a global Ponzi scheme duped Nigerians into investing.

Where Bitcoin comes in is that once the Nigerian government became involved and started to crackdown on the scheme, instead of moving on, the scheme decided to ask victims for investment in Bitcoin instead. Although many people were burned in the scheme, it did open eyes to the possibility of Bitcoin being a genuine investment opportunity, in a country with low per capita annual income.

In 2018, the number of Nigerians trading in Bitcoin continues to rise, with about $4.7 million traded per week at current estimates. That puts them at 23rd in the global rankings, but comparable with some other traditional currencies, such as Indian Rupees.

And all of this growth has come despite the scams continuing, in much the same way that traditional email scams asking for traditional currency do. The fact that it first brought Bitcoin into the country’s consciousness is irrelevant. Scams will always remain where there is money to be made.