https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHXnGxbi0-k

More than 100,000 businesses worldwide accept bitcoin. Microsoft supports it. South African retailers such as Takealot.com accept it for payment and soon Nigerians will be able to exchange bitcoin in naira instead of U.S. dollars.

South African-based bitcoin exchange iceCUBED X has partnered with Nigerian payment processor VoguePay to let Nigerians exchange bitcoin in naira instead of US dollars, htxt.africa reports.

South Africa will play host to an inaugural bitcoin conference April 16 and 17 in Cape Town. How companies in Africa can benefit by adopting bitcoin will be the focus of the conference.

Topics will include discussions on investment opportunities, the use of bitcoin in emerging — as opposed to developed — markets; security of the technology; compliance and regulatory issues; and merchant adoption of bitcoin, according to TechCentral.

The organizer, Bitcoin Events, will bring bitcoin experts from around the world to share their views and experience on the opportunities and challenges facing the cryptocurrency, TechCentral reports.

“We have to be realistic though,” said iceCUBED founder Gareth Grobler in a prepared statement. “The Bitcoin technology has yet to be packaged and applied correctly for it to be a mainstream alternative currency, but as an agnostic payment settlement mechanism within a larger framework it ticks all the boxes and could perhaps have a significant impact on shaping the Nigerian digital economy landscape. It is a market that simply just cannot be ignored any longer.”

Bitcoin has been popular the last few years. The price per bitcoin reached a high of $1242 US (14,000 rand) in November 2013 and has since steadily lost value. You can buy a bitcoin for about $300 (3,500 rand), htxt.africa reports.

Official trading in naira is expected to begin Jan. 12.

What exactly is bitcoin and how does it work? Check out this video on RT.