El Salvador topped the Bitcoin-interest charts while Brazil followed Nigeria

Brazil has overtaken Africa's largest economy, Nigeria, in the ranking of Bitcoin interest rates. Google Trends data shows that El Salvador holds the top position, followed by Brazil and Nigeria in third place.

The data suggests that while Bitcoin's popularity is expanding in Latin America's most populous country, Brazil, Nigerian crypto users are favoring the USDT stablecoin over Bitcoin. In the year In 2022, El Salvador ranked first, Nigeria ranked second, and Brazil ranked third.

As El Salvador takes the top spot in Bitcoin interest, the country has been strengthening its commitment to Bitcoin. On December 7, the government of El Salvador launched a citizenship-by-donation program in partnership with statcoin issuer Tether that will grant citizenship-by-donation to 1,000 people who are willing to donate Freedom Visas – $1 million in Bitcoin (BTC) or Tether (USDT) to the country.

Brazil's largest private bank, Itau Unibanco, began offering cryptocurrency services in early December, offering Bitcoin and Ether trading. The bank's expansion into digital assets comes after several cryptocurrency regulatory changes in Latin America.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a law on December 12 that imposes a tax on crypto assets held by Brazilian citizens abroad.

In Nigeria, the stablecoin has become the cryptocurrency of choice as it is pegged to the US dollar, a widely accepted asset to protect against inflation and the naira's appreciation.

Stablecoins not only provide financial security against market fluctuations, but also provide profitable opportunities. In the year According to Chinalysis's Cryptocurrency Geography 2023 report, peer-to-peer naira trading in USDT will see a significant increase in 2023, more than doubling its initial rate.

It has been more than two years since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banned licensed banks from engaging in cryptocurrency-related activities to curb the rise of unregulated transactions.

Related: Why Bitcoin price has reached new highs in Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria and Argentina?

Despite its challenges, the Nigerian crypto market continues to be a significant trading tool in sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is slowly losing popularity to crypto-friendly countries like the UK, UK, and Brazil.

Nigeria is the leader in cryptocurrency adoption in Africa and globally, with a 9% annual growth rate, according to a report by Chainalysis. Despite the recent decline in Bitcoin interest, Nigeria is among the top three countries with consistent growth from 2021.

Journal: Unstable Coins: Debasement, Bankruptcy and Other Risks Looming.