Today on KWIQ: 1 USDT = ₦1,333.16 · 1 BTC = ₦109,076,112
All rates →KWIQ Naira Crypto Report · May 2023
Bola Tinubu became president in May 2023 and ended the petrol subsidy
Bitcoin fell 6.9% in May 2023, from $29,240 to $27,223, and ether rose 0.2%. USDT traded at a median of ₦750.09 on Quidax, 62.8% above the CBN’s official rate, which averaged ₦460.7.
Based on anonymised sales on KWIQ in May 2023, and public market data. Percentages and rates only. How we measure
On KWIQ in May 2023
Bitcoin’s share of crypto sales
91.9%
USDT: 8%
Crypto’s share of all trades
81.2%
Gift cards: 18.8%
Payouts to fintech accounts
49.2%
Of payouts with a known bank
Crypto sales vs the month before
−19.5%
Change in the number of sales
What Nigerians sold on KWIQ
By naira value, Bitcoin was 91.9% of crypto sales and USDT 8%.
View as a table
| Coin | Share of crypto sales |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 91.9% |
| USDT | 8% |
| Ethereum | 0% |
| Other coins | 0% |
USDT’s share, month by month
USDT’s share of crypto sales by value in each month of 2023 up to May 2023.
View as a table
| Month | USDT share of crypto sales |
|---|---|
| Jan | 43.9% |
| Feb | 21.6% |
| Mar | 6.1% |
| Apr | 2.7% |
| May | 8% |
Crypto vs gift cards
Crypto made up 81.2% of all trades on KWIQ by naira value, and gift cards 18.8%.
Where the naira went
49.2% of payouts went to fintech accounts rather than commercial banks.
Among payouts with a known receiving bank. The bank wasn’t recorded for 2.6% of payouts.
When people sold
Monday was the busiest day, and 9pm to 10pm the busiest hour (Lagos time).
Busiest day
Monday
Busiest hour
9pm to 10pm
Peak hour vs an average hour
+135.8%
View as a table
| Day | Share of crypto sales |
|---|---|
| Monday | 17.3% |
| Tuesday | 14.5% |
| Wednesday | 16.8% |
| Thursday | 12.7% |
| Friday | 15.6% |
| Saturday | 11% |
| Sunday | 12.1% |
New sellers
32.4% of sales came from people selling on KWIQ for the first time.
Sales from first-time sellers
32.4%
The market in May 2023
Bitcoin at the end of the month
$27,223
Down 6.9% on the month
CBN official rate, end of month
₦461.26
Averaged ₦460.7 per dollar
USDT on Quidax, median day
₦750.09
62.8% above the official rate
Bitcoin in naira on Quidax
₦20,375,506
At the end of the month
Bitcoin and ether in dollars
Bitcoin fell 6.9% in May 2023, from $29,240 to $27,223, with a high of $29,850 and a low of $25,810. Ether rose 0.2%, to $1,874.
Bitcoin’s price at the end of each of the last 12 months, in US dollars.
View as a table
| Month | Bitcoin | Ether |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Feb 2023 | $23,145 | $1,605 |
| Mar 2023 | $28,474 | $1,822 |
| Apr 2023 | $29,247 | $1,871 |
| May 2023 | $27,223 | $1,874 |
The naira: official and market rates
The CBN’s official rate stayed at about ₦460.7 per dollar. On Quidax, USDT traded between ₦732.91 and ₦768.18 a day, with a median of ₦750.09, 62.8% above the official rate.
Naira per dollar on Quidax, the median day of each month.
View as a table
| Month | Official | Market | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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% |
| Feb 2023 | ₦460.43 | ₦748.98 | +62.7% |
| Mar 2023 | ₦460.43 | ₦741.98 | +61.1% |
| Apr 2023 | ₦460.42 | ₦738.82 | +60.5% |
| May 2023 | ₦460.7 | ₦750.09 | +62.8% |
What happened in May 2023
The month’s main events in crypto, and in Nigeria.
- On 29 May Bola Tinubu was sworn in as president and said the petrol subsidy was gone.
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 ₦73,291 on the first day of the month and ₦75,009 on the last.
- 0.01 BTC was worth about ₦203,755 at the end of May 2023, against ₦217,081 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.
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