2016 is a year that’ll go down in history for many
reasons. One of those reasons is recession but
despite the recession and the unprecedented
depreciation of the Naira, it wasn’t the worst
performing currency in the world.
According to Bloomberg, Bitcoin, the increasingly
popular cryptocurrency or digital currency, was
the best performing currency in 2016.

The worst performing currency for 2016 was the
pound. Not the British pound, but the Egyptian
pound, which depreciated by 58.84 percent.
The Nigerian naira, which fell by 36.68 percent,
was the fourth worst performing currency of 2016
— just ahead of the Egyptian pound, and the
Venezuelan Bolivar. Russian ruble appreciated by
21.31 percent, while the Brazilian currency gained
20.96 percent through the year.
The Zambian kwacha, the South African rand and
Lesotho’s Loti were the best performers on the
continent, appreciating by 11.96 percent, 11
percent and 11 percent respectively.