THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 OUTBREAK ON CRYPTO CURRENCIES TRADE AMONGST NIGERIA YOUTHS.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The pandemic of corona virus 2019 (COVID-19) is having a major effect on Nigeria. It is the most important public health issue in many of our lifetimes, as well as the most major geopolitical phenomenon of our decade. The required policy response to halt its spread, as well as the subsequent downstream consequences, have had a significant negative impact on the economy; economic activity in several sectors has dwindled. Stock market averages have dropped sharply from their pre-epidemic peak, and unemployment has increased significantly from its previous level. Academic, corporate, and community care programs are both facing significant funding losses in addition to increased costs from hospital modifications and increased personnel as the front lines of this response.

With a large population of over 180 million, no state would be immune to the pressures of this case, while some will have had more time to plan. According to Cavallo (2020), what is clear is that the pandemic would necessitate tight cooperation with the public sector, health-care distribution processes, and human actions.

About the fact that the Covid-19 disease first appeared in China in December 2019, Nigeria registered its first index case on February 27th, 2020. (Ohia, Bakarey, & Ahmad, 2020). According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the disease has expanded to more than 30 states since then, with the number of reported cases and deaths rising on a regular basis (Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, 2020). Corona virus disease 2019 is an infectious disease that is popularly known as Covid-19 (Moore, 2020). It is a highly contagious illness that spreads from person to person (Adnan, Khan, Kazmi, Bashir, & Siddique, 2020). (Unhale, Ansar, Sanap, Thakhre & Wadatkar, 2020). Near connections are often affected by respiratory droplets produced when an infected individual sneezes or coughs (Harapan, Itoh, Yufika, Winardi, Keam, Te & Mudatsir, 2020). Although interventions such as lockout, social distancing, self-isolation or self-quarantine, and observation of basic hygiene habits such as routine hand washing, wearing facemasks, and covering the mouth with a handkerchief when coughing or sneezing have been advised to limit disease spread among people (Ohia, Bakarey & Ahmad, 2020).

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

A crypto currency is a digital asset meant to function as a medium of exchange that employs powerful encryption to safeguard financial transactions, regulate the production of new units, and verify asset transfers. Unlike centralized digital money and central banking institutions, crypto currency uses decentralized control. Each crypto currency has decentralized governance thanks to distributed ledger technology, which is often a block chain that acts as a public financial transaction database. Bitcoin, which was initially published as open-source software in 2009, is widely regarded as the first decentralized crypto currency. Since then, over 6,000 other bitcoin versions and other crypto currencies have been developed.

Digital technology has grown ubiquitous and widely used across the globe. As a result, it is projected that the mode, means, and techniques of conducting money transactions will be digitalized, requiring the adoption and use of digital currency. Many Nigerian youths are involved in trading crypto currencies and this; they have made a means of living and generating revenue for themselves and in a time of the pandemic, investors fearing that a crisis will lead central banks or political actors to interfere in the market may prefer to switch their investments into the decentralized cryptomarket or manipulate the price of cryptocurrencies i.e. “pump-and-dump” by artificially driving up the demand in order to lure unsophisticated investors and then drop their holdings once the price is sufficiently high and this may result in drastic losses for the Nigerian youths.

This study seeks to investigate the impact of Covid-19 outbreak on Crypto currencies trade amongst Nigeria youths.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The primary aim of this research is to investigate the impact of Covid-19 outbreak on Crypto currencies trade amongst Nigeria youths. Thus, the following objectives;

1. To investigate the impact of the pandemic on the trade of cryptocurrencies among Nigerian youths.

2. To determine the extent to which the Nigerian youths were involved in crypto business during the pandemic..

3. To determine whether the pandemic affected the Nigerian youths negatively or positively.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions guide this research;

1. What is the impact of the pandemic on the trade of cryptocurrencies among Nigerian youths.

2. To what extent were Nigerian youths involved in crypto business during the pandemic?

3. Did the pandemic affect the Nigerian youths positively or negatively?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be significant as it will be an addition to materials on the subject matter of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak especially on Nigerians. This study will also be helpful to other researchers who wish to change the perspective of this research or delve deeper into this study to produce a different result.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will only cover the impact of the pandemic (Covid-19 outbreak) on Crypto currencies trade amongst Nigeria youths. It will also look at the extent to which the pandemic affected the Nigerian youths and if it was positive or negative. Youths in Onitsha, shall serve as enrolled participants for this study.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study was limited as a result of time and the necessary funds to carry out the research in depth.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

1.    COVID-19: A virus that causes improper breathing has side effects and can may lead to the death of an individual.

2.    CRYPTOCURRENCY: A crypto currency is a digital asset meant to function as a medium of exchange that employs powerful encryption to safeguard financial transactions, regulate the production of new units, and verify asset transfers.

3.    TRADE: The act of exchanging goods for value, usually monetary value.

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