Another Big CBDC Flop as Nigerians Largely Reject the Digital eNaira

(by Nick Giambruno | InternationalMan.com via Zero Hedge) – Last year, Nigeria launched its much-ballyhooed eNaira, Africa’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Central bankers, academics, politicians, and an assortment of elites from over 100 countries hoping to launch their own CBDCs have closely followed the eNaira.

They used Nigeria—Africa’s largest country by population and size of its economy—as a Petri dish to test their nefarious plans to use CBDCs to enslave the people of North America, Europe, and beyond.

The jury is now in.

The eNaira has been a massive failure.

According to Bloomberg, only 1 in 200 Nigerians use the eNaira. That’s even after the government implemented discounts and other incentives as desperate measures to increase adoption.

This came as a surprise to the elites.

Nigeria has one of the highest Bitcoin adoption rates in the world—ranking #11 among all countries.

Bitcoin’s ability to bypass the government’s capital controls—which restrict the use of foreign currencies and sending and receiving money from abroad—was a big draw for Nigerians, as it is in other countries with these repressive policies.

A long history of rampant currency debasement in Nigeria—including six devaluations in recent years—also helped spur the adoption of Bitcoin, which is totally resistant to inflation.

In short, the elites have miscalculated. They figured Nigerians wouldn’t be able to differentiate between Bitcoin and the eNaira—they are both digital currencies, after all.

The Bloomberg article admitted, “Nigerians’ passion for cryptocurrencies doesn’t extend to the central bank offering.”

It also said Nigerians view the eNaira as “a symbol of distrust in the ruling elite” and that the people view the government as “hostile to them and therefore have no interest in anything it introduces.”

To all the Nigerians rejecting the eNaira, I say bravo!

The failure of CBDCs in Nigeria could throw sand in the gears of the elites’ plan to implement them worldwide. That would be a big positive for human freedom.

The flop of CBDCs in Nigeria is an encouraging development.

It also reveals an outcome that was probably the opposite of what the elites desired—increased Bitcoin adoption.

CBDCs and Bitcoin

Despite all the hype, CBDCs are nothing but the same fiat currency scam on steroids.

It’s doubtful CBDCs can save otherwise fundamentally unsound currencies—as I believe all fiat currencies are.

If the current fiat system is not viable, then CBDCs are even less viable as they enable the government to engage in even more currency debasement.

Would a CBDC have saved the Zimbabwe dollar, the Venezuelan bolivar, the Argentine peso, or the Lebanese lira?

I don’t think so.

The eNaira did not save the Nigerian fiat currency. And a CBDC won’t save the US dollar or the euro from their fates either.