Today on KWIQ: 1 USDT = ₦1,334.14 · 1 BTC = ₦109,087,104
All rates →KWIQ Naira Crypto Report · January 2023
Bitcoin rose 39.9% in January 2023 as Nigeria ran short of cash
Bitcoin rose 39.9% in January 2023, from $16,532 to $23,129, and ether rose 32.6%. USDT traded at a median of ₦744.47 on Quidax, 63.6% above the CBN’s official rate, which averaged ₦454.97.
Based on anonymised sales on KWIQ in January 2023, and public market data. Percentages and rates only. How we measure
On KWIQ in January 2023
Bitcoin’s share of crypto sales
55.3%
USDT: 43.9%
Crypto’s share of all trades
47.9%
Gift cards: 52.1%
Payouts to fintech accounts
23.7%
Of payouts with a known bank
Crypto sales vs the month before
+12.4%
Change in the number of sales
What Nigerians sold on KWIQ
By naira value, Bitcoin was 55.3% of crypto sales and USDT 43.9%. The biggest of the other coins: DOGE 0.6%, TRX 0.2%.
View as a table
| Coin | Share of crypto sales |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 55.3% |
| USDT | 43.9% |
| Ethereum | 0% |
| Other coins | 0.8% |
Crypto vs gift cards
Crypto made up 47.9% of all trades on KWIQ by naira value, and gift cards 52.1%.
Where the naira went
23.7% of payouts went to fintech accounts rather than commercial banks.
Among payouts with a known receiving bank. The bank wasn’t recorded for 2.3% of payouts.
When people sold
Friday was the busiest day, and 11pm to 12am the busiest hour (Lagos time).
Busiest day
Friday
Busiest hour
11pm to 12am
Peak hour vs an average hour
+126.8%
View as a table
| Day | Share of crypto sales |
|---|---|
| Monday | 12.6% |
| Tuesday | 17.3% |
| Wednesday | 12.6% |
| Thursday | 14.2% |
| Friday | 19.7% |
| Saturday | 9.4% |
| Sunday | 14.2% |
New sellers
54.3% of sales came from people selling on KWIQ for the first time.
Sales from first-time sellers
54.3%
The market in January 2023
Bitcoin at the end of the month
$23,129
Up 39.9% on the month
CBN official rate, end of month
₦461
Averaged ₦454.97 per dollar
USDT on Quidax, median day
₦744.47
63.6% above the official rate
Bitcoin in naira on Quidax
₦17,335,111
At the end of the month
Bitcoin and ether in dollars
Bitcoin rose 39.9% in January 2023, from $16,532 to $23,129, with a high of $23,966 and a low of $16,490. Ether rose 32.6%, to $1,585.
Bitcoin’s price at the end of each of the last 12 months, in US dollars.
View as a table
| Month | Bitcoin | Ether |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | $43,193 | $2,923 |
| Mar 2022 | $45,528 | $3,283 |
| Apr 2022 | $37,644 | $2,727 |
| May 2022 | $31,784 | $1,941 |
| Jun 2022 | $19,986 | $1,070 |
| Jul 2022 | $23,307 | $1,679 |
| Aug 2022 | $20,048 | $1,554 |
| Sep 2022 | $19,426 | $1,329 |
| Oct 2022 | $20,490 | $1,573 |
| Nov 2022 | $17,167 | $1,295 |
| Dec 2022 | $16,530 | $1,195 |
| Jan 2023 | $23,129 | $1,585 |
The naira: official and market rates
The CBN’s official rate went from ₦449.01 to ₦461 per dollar, averaging ₦454.97. On Quidax, USDT traded between ₦731.57 and ₦754.89 a day, with a median of ₦744.47, 63.6% above the official rate.
Naira per dollar on Quidax, the median day of each month.
View as a table
| Month | Official | Market | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | ₦416.15 | ₦575.03 | +38.2% |
| Mar 2022 | ₦415.83 | ₦581.5 | +39.8% |
| Apr 2022 | ₦415.4 | ₦587.16 | +41.3% |
| May 2022 | ₦415.08 | ₦600.26 | +44.6% |
| Jun 2022 | ₦415.02 | ₦609.34 | +46.8% |
| Jul 2022 | ₦415.11 | ₦625.06 | +50.6% |
| Aug 2022 | ₦419.97 | ₦678.99 | +61.7% |
| Sep 2022 | ₦428.75 | ₦710.58 | +65.7% |
| Oct 2022 | ₦436.12 | ₦742.79 | +70.3% |
| Nov 2022 | ₦441.88 | ₦780.89 | +76.7% |
| Dec 2022 | ₦445.97 | ₦739.07 | +65.7% |
| Jan 2023 | ₦454.97 | ₦744.47 | +63.6% |
What happened in January 2023
The month’s main events in crypto, and in Nigeria.
- Cash ran short across Nigeria as banks withdrew the old notes and few new ones reached customers.
- On 19 January the crypto lender Genesis filed for bankruptcy.
What it meant in naira
Two examples at Quidax’s prices, to show how the month’s moves added up for someone holding crypto in Nigeria. They aren’t the rates KWIQ paid.
- $100 in USDT was worth about ₦73,157 on the first day of the month and ₦74,659 on the last.
- 0.01 BTC was worth about ₦173,351 at the end of January 2023, against ₦121,200 a month earlier.
How we measure
- Bitcoin and ether prices are Coinbase’s daily prices in US dollars (UTC days): the first day’s opening price, the last day’s closing price and the month’s high and low.
- The official rate is the Central Bank of Nigeria’s central rate for the US dollar, on the days the CBN published one.
- The market rate is the naira price of USDT on Quidax, which provides KWIQ’s wallets: the median of its daily closing prices, counting only days with trades.
- Events are as reported at the time. They’re listed for context, not as the cause of any price move.
- KWIQ’s figures come from anonymised sales completed on KWIQ during the calendar month, in Lagos time, across KWIQ’s current and older selling systems.
- We publish percentages, indices and the rates KWIQ paid: never amounts, totals or anything about an individual user.
- Payout destinations are among payouts where the receiving bank was recorded. Fintech accounts include OPay, PalmPay, Moniepoint, Kuda and FairMoney; the rest are commercial banks.
- KWIQ’s older selling systems recorded less than today’s: there are no USDT network figures before 2026, the rates KWIQ paid start in October 2024 and the payout time in December 2025.
Use this report
Journalists, bloggers and researchers are welcome to quote this report and its figures, with a credit to KWIQ and a link to this page. For interviews or more detail, email admin@kwiq.app. For today’s rates, see crypto to naira rates.
Sell crypto for naira on KWIQ
Zero conversion fees, the rate shown before you sell, and naira in your bank account in just 4 seconds.
