Nigeria is the “second-highest country in the world for searches related to crypto leverage,” per Leverage Trading’s analysis of Google searches. The West African country also dominates searches for the term “trade crypto,” along with South Africa and Ghana. Regulators and consumer protection agencies must “provide greater safeguards against predatory practices,” according to a spokesperson for Leverage Trading.

Singapore (100) is the only country that outperformed the West African country in terms of searches “with an emphasis on transactional searches such as ‘how to leverage trade crypto.'”

The analysis, on the other hand, shows that Nigeria, along with South Africa and Ghana, dominate Google searches for the term “trade cryptocurrency.” Leverage Trading discovered that Nigerian searches were four times higher than similar searches by US residents.

Leveraged trading, according to Investopedia, is the “use of borrowed funds to increase one’s trading position beyond what would be available from their cash balance alone.” While this type of trading has the potential to increase a trader’s profits, it also has the potential to increase a trader’s losses, so it is not recommended for inexperienced traders.

Despite this, African traders appear unconcerned about the risks associated with leveraged trading.  A spokesperson for Leverage Trading commented on the findings, which show that Africa has a disproportionately large share of total global searches for leveraged investment products:

As technology advances, it becomes easier for individuals in emerging markets to gain access to high-risk financial products such as leverage trading.  While these products may promise to create wealth, the reality is that they can also cause devastating losses, perpetuating the cycle of poverty. The risks of high leverage and potential losses cannot be overstated, and individuals must fully understand these risks before engaging in leverage trading.

As financial firms increasingly target individuals in poorer countries, regulators and consumer protection agencies must “provide greater safeguards against predatory practices,” according to the unnamed spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Leverage Trading discovered that while Africa dominates many leverage trading-related searches, the continent lags behind when it comes to searches for the term “stock leverage.” This category is dominated by Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates, according to the analysis.