Bitcoin Forum

Nigeria SEC in support of cryptocurrencies while CBN not in support, p2p has been the best though, no bank charges and no conversion charges. 

banker again!!  well...they will keep thinking that way.  in my old post, I once posted a picture that writes "if you want a truth: Don't ask a Banker about Bitcoin" (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5313806.msg56316555#msg56316555)

who can and has the right to legitimate a decentralized asset?  Bitcoin is a decentralized asset created by humans and for humans so without the supporting government, Bitcoin will continue to exist.  I wonder how long he will continue to chuckle at this belief!

As usual, too many people are just missing the point out there. It is only for the community to decide if Bitcoin is legitimate.

You got the solid point on where people who do know about Bitcoin existence and other crypto which do really talks about decentralization which does simply or basically
means that no one could able to control it out but we cant really deny that government could really still be a pain in the ass when they do decide up things when it comes
on getting involvement through regulation aspect which would really be somewhat able to be a headache.

As usual these kind of sentiments came from traditional government and investors arent something new to be shocked on.

These bankers want to protect their interest, so they will say things not in favor with cryptocurrencies. But people are not dumb anymore, we are not bound by their rules. We can now think of what to do with our funds without these people. In time, they will also join this market, as many people are starting to adopt crypto.

What I find funny is how circular their logic really is, they say that bitcoin is not legitimate money, but according to who? To them of course! So basically since they do not like cryptocurrencies since they compete against them then they have decided that it is not legitimate money, despite the fact that bitcoin has all the characteristics that you may wish out of money, that people trust it, and that they have for the most part obtained those cryptocurrencies in a legitimate way.

This is why we should disregard the opinions of governments, they are biased and they will always try to defend their fiat currencies no matter what despite the evidence that bitcoin is way better, so with this in mind I have no doubts that those that want to exchange or acquire bitcoin in Nigeria will just ignore the government and continue with their activities despite the protests of the government.

So it means that as long as the transaction is not via bank, it is no problem, right?
And using P2P is probably a good decision, but also, it needs careful decision to choose the right and trusted P2P.

Well, actually maybe it seems like in my country, cryptocurrency is also not legal as money or used for payment method. However, it is legal as a commodity or digital asset. We, as a society can trade or invest in cryptocurrency (cash out through bank is also available) but we are under our own risks and must do our research and smart investing or trading.
But if we use it for payment (for example paying some goods or services in merchants by using crypto) is forbidden and illegal.

But the good thing is that:

Isn't it a bit premature for the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, to issue such statements when the central bank is still on the process of doing due diligence?

Or is everything merely temporary pending the final result of their study? After all, the governor is clear that all this is for the time being only. So the ban is just some sort of a prevention mechanism since the central bank is still trying to understand the emerging technology. Once everything has been thoroughly discussed and understood, the ban would either be lifted or continued to be implemented.

I can only hope that part of their objective due diligence process is to invite crypto experts as well as other crypto stakeholders so that they would come up with a comprehensive understanding of cryptocurrency.

It doesn't look smart to badmouth and ban bitcoin to save a priceless national currency. At this point venezuelan dictatorship is smarter than nigerian rulers, as it seems the government is turning a blind eye to bitcoin usage there. That is because they know bitcoin adoption helps citizens to not fall totally on poverty, so they are able to keep the economy working somehow and generating taxes for the government.
In Nigeria the authorities could do the same. Let people use bitcoin as they want and the government will be benefited in the end with people buying more and consequently paying more taxes.

Agreed. Those who use cryptocurrency will decide whether it is legitimate or not. Those shops which accept cryptocurrency will decide whether it is legitimate or not. People who don't understand the concept of cryptocurrency, such as this illiterate guy (Godwin Emefiele) should concentrate on his main business of printing banknotes without any limit and worsening the monetary inflation issue.

according to their qoute they say " Cryptocurrency has no place in our monetary system at this time "  at that time only so they mean that there was a still a chance for crypto to be a part of thier monetary system in the near future if ever they will change their minds and accept crypto .

that is strange where crypto has still a complicated status despite of sec already legalized and accept it because i think sec is more powerful than a bank but thats still okay if they allow p2p trades , indeed p2p trades are more cooler and it was the original .

I'm quite sure that these type of people and politicians and those who are in power are quite illiterate about not only how crypto and economy works, but even the most basic and fundamentals of their own sector to which they have been charged to look into through elections. These anti-technology mindset is really very lethal in case of developing nations because the world is evolving with technology, and not adapting with it can lead to backwardness and missing out on opportunities for common people and investors.

Cryptocurrency has no place in their system was the statement given right which means they don't want their people to get such freedom so now the decision is on the hands of people whether they want their useless paper Money which will become valueless in next few years or want cryptocurrency which will be valued 100x times in the next few years.

Gold is not legitimate money as well,and Bitcon is considered "digital gold". ;D
Will the Nigerian central bank ban gold transactions? ;D
This is the typical mentality of a central banker.Legitimate money are the fiat money,issued by the central bank,everything else is not legitimate money.
I guess that the majority of cryptocurrency users in Nigeria couldn't care less about the opinions of this guy,or the anti-crypto legislation and regulations.The crypto industry in Nigeria will flourish,with or without the government support or oppression.

the doctrine embedded in their brain is the old doctrine (money must be physical) The world is changing very fast but why are they moving slowly?  all this time they acted as rule lockers and felt they were "the rules themselves".

the bullshit they put out is always "Bitcoin is used for crime".  I just thought "they are hypocrites who are full of corruption who are afraid to live in the age of blockchain technology".

CBN could've just done something better to tackle their suspicions instead of banning it. If CBN continues to take defensive approaches, it will certainly never work in the long term. Also, I see no valid reason to ban crypto in Nigeria. Are they just out of ideas about how to handle this issue strategically?

It seems like the Nigerian government doesn't want their people to make money from crypto. Besides, people will always find their way for solutions.

When people see bitcoin as a tool to liberate themselves from the rat race and preserve some wealth from the government prying eyes, I wish the best of luck to these Nigerian institutions to find a way to stop the super-massive adoption we are witnessing in countries like Nigeria.
Yellen, in the States, got some similar stance on bitcoin and it looks me they're only barking since there are plenty of legitimate businesses that are based on bitcoin and which pay taxes regularly.
There's a whole economy building up behind the scenes and I'm curious to know if they truly want to stifle these innovations.

What do you expect from the central bank, do you want them to buy bitcoin or do you want them to get citizens to buy more bitcoin?
Buying more Bitcoin is losing the central bank's ability to control inflation and the monetary mass.
The best thing that can be obtained is legislation to track Bitcoin and control taxes, which requires a strong banking system and a country capable of preventing tax evasion, which is not found in the case of Nigeria.

I don't know what's going through their head but I think they're just denial at this point. I mean, they could just label cryptocurrency as an asset and profit from it since Nigerian users are adopting crypto like crazy, rather than staying away from it. But hey who am I to say this. At least crypto holders in Nigeria is having a blast since Bitcoin over there is over $60,000.

You don't de-legitimize what a community choose to use as currency/money/token. It's already legitimate, it's just left for the bank to accept it.
I wonder what they will say to people who decide to start using or getting paid in stones, precious metals, rice, beans, bread, etc. Would he tell the people that what they choose to get paid with is "not legitimate"? By the way, free people should decide what they get paid with as long as they are safe to use. They seem to be deciding for those who consider crypto safer and more moral than their fiat currencies.
They should ensure that people use cryptocurrency safely without abuse/misuse.

The statement just shows the frustration of the central bank official. He realizes that the government can't do much, apart from issuing a banking ban on the trade of cryptocurrency. It is not possible to ban the ownership of crypto, since the wallets are not linked to anyone's identity. If they ban bank accounts from being used for the trade, then the P2P platforms will move to physical cash and other options. Apart from the retards in Indian government, no one in the world think that it is possible to ban cryptocurrency. So in due course of time, we will be hearing similar statements form officials all around the world. Janet Yellen of United States issued one a few days back.

Ok.... So let the same governor tell us why "legitimate Money" made them the most corrupt country in the world? I guess it is easier to launder money through the "legitimate Money" system, than trying to do that with a system where every transaction can be followed on a transparent Blockchain network/database. (Let's say the world Banking system switch to Bitcoin and they never used Mixer services, then the Blockchain would not make money laundering so easy...and that is a threat to Bankers)  

They do not want to allow an open and transparent Blockchain system, where their transactions can be traced and recorded... and they will much rather hide their "illegal" transactions in a private system that they control.  ;)  (Transfers to offshore accounts ..etc.)  ::)

A country who has not made enough progress in their own country and that’s why their currency is devalued over these years. Nigerian currency is so lower in value that even it is three digit in third world country like India. Lolz. Now the case of bitcoin:- The BTC itself is 5 digit currency and thus its almost impossible for them to buy single bitcoin or even 10 mBtc for that matter.

That’s why they are not risking their money with bitcoin and made such stringent statement about it. Also it does not matter if they get involve or not, we don’t have that much investors from Nigerian to influence crypto currencies.

 Peer2peer has been the best so far for crypto-currency Nigerians before and after the ban, but it won't be too long before scammers in Nigeria realise the now importance of peer2peer for crypto-currency users and Bitcoiners and. Now start to steal or scam people in Nigeria and people are faster in learning easy money scams than the legit one, I think Nigerians should let their brains received this message. Using peer2peer it's has advantages and where exchanges are better than it.

If people want to exchange their goods with crypto then govt must accept it as a legitimate currency. Actually, govt has the power to ban any certain thing if they think they can not control it. They think it's too risky and they can not control the outflow of money if they allow cryptocurrency for the transaction. It will enable borderless transactions which will not be beneficial for the govt.

They do not want to learn that the legitimacy of a decentralized currency is given by its users. As he represents a shitty centralized system with a shitty currency that is worth less and less due to the abuses of him and all those in power, he thinks that by saying that he will be able to save himself.
The legitimacy of Bitcoin is becoming more and more firm and it is gaining ground to his currency as well as to the rest of the fiat currencies, and he can do little to stop this.

Of course the bank will say that cryptocurrency is not a legitimate money because they hate cryptocurrency and there's no doubt that they will say such information. We all know that the cryptocurrency is a legit one in which we are earning fiat money or true money in a form of digital currency that we are enable to convert into a real currency. So no doubt that this is a legit one, am I right? As long as we are making money through cryptocurrency I can say that this is a legit, earning fiat money from a digital currency is still a legitimate money.

A government can de-legitimize things according to their wish and we do not need the banks to accept cryptocurrency to be a legit currency as long as there are users accepting and trading them globally you do not need a permission from a government.

A government will worry about their fiat currency if people start investing in decentralized currency in large numbers as it will affect their economy badly, so any government will try to avoid that to happen.

It doesn't really matter how many digits the currency has. A country can be prosperous without huge exchange rates as it depends on the trade balance. Just look at Japanese Yen.:)

OP says that only the central bank governor is against it while the Nigerian SEC is in favor. So that is a positive, right. Central bank are supposed to be autonomous bodies and the governor can have an opinion. Doesn't mean it can be termed policy. The fact that you are having senate hearings on this is a positive in itself.

As people, you all need to organize and explain in media and to people how what the governor says is his opinion and not the truth. An illegitimate opinion cannot decide the future of something that the people themselves want. Organize and ask for the right to stay connected to the international community in a positive way. You guys are good. I have seen it first hand. Nobody really wants to go back to the "Nigerian Prince" days.  :D

This is their permanent argument, they always repeat this talk, cryptocurrencies are the first competitor to central banks and governments, so they work whenever they can to make cryptocurrencies illegal, but the reality is the opposite of that there is a collective adoption of cryptocurrencies and their increasing spread around the world much greater than before and this is evidence that People don't believe this and they keep buying and storing cryptocurrencies as legitimate money of value.

Well, it is technically not legitimate in any way, cryptocurrency currently lies in the grey area of the financial laws so you can't be sure whether it is legitimate or not. I get that bankers hate cryptocurrency but I think that currently they have a reason to say that it is not legitimate. We can't really be certain that they are wrong or right with what they say unless we understood the subject through every nook and cranny. This is just an argument by a banker, there will still be hearings about this problem and I think that Nigerian government can't just discard the fact that they are leader in the African continent when it comes to cryptocurrency adoption.

who can and has the right to legitimate a decentralized asset?  Bitcoin is a decentralized asset created by humans and for humans so without the supporting government, Bitcoin will continue to exist.  I wonder how long he will continue to chuckle at this belief!
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Yes, the government is afraid of decentrilization as the new financial revolution. Has he answered some of the errors in the fiat systems. Errors such as; devaluation, inflation and printing of money.

Is printing of money a real money?

you are asking the same question as the one in this youtube scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkvdAznoFqY
Some of us do know that printed money is made out of paper and ink yet we fail to take our stance against it and we keep using fiat money because... reasons.
That is the matrix we have around us based upon.

This is the initial government struggle for supremacy. Government of Nigeria will later come back to thereself and follow the growing nations. There are different opinion already from CBN and SEC , these are all government agencies. They are having different views within their house and the masses keep using P2P while the government is missing funds that would come to the banks as charge. China tried to stop it but couldn't, so Nigeria won't be able to stop a global business.

To that governor who says bitcoin is not a legitimate money, I'm going to say that even gold is not a legitimate money, I hope it makes sense. I mean why people always compare Bitcoin to a literal fiat, like a physical one? it's a digital currency for your information, to all the people whose brains are too small to understand complicated stuff like Bitcoin.

To make it simple, Bitcoin has technology on it whole fiat have don't any, that's why it has a physical state unlike Bitcoin. But you could make money on it by exchanging it, just like in gold, and other precious stones that has value on it.

Well, it is not surprising that this is happening. Bitcoin was created with the aim of taking control of money away from the government and banks and giving it to the masses
If this purpose is being achieved, then definitely the bank would find every means possible to stop that from happening because they always want to have a hold over the people.
Personally, I'd say the Central Bank of Nigeria ought to open their eyes to see the numerous benefits of bitcoin and embrace it. That way, banks will make even more money from charges from transactions made by bitcoin users in the country
 

And ironically, Nigeria is the country with the biggest crypto growth over the past year or so.

The central bank can do all it wants in terms of trying to restrict access to BTC. But when every trend is pointing towards mass scale grassroots adoption, there is really no way of doing so effectively and in an enforceable manner.

As you said, people will simply move to OTC and P2P as opposed to trade on regulated exchanges. By restricting access, the central entities are simply shooting themselves in their own feet as they are forgoing millions in potential taxation revenue.

So is "Legitimate money" way back thousands of years ago. But look at what we are now, using pieces of paper that we decided and blindingly follow the rules of. It's not much different from bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, only that at the very least, bitcoin is very beneficial to the environment, and it gives the power back to the people who circulate it. Only shows that governments are backed and influenced by elite entities and since cryptocurrency is giving them problems, they literally have no choice but to rely on the government

If that's their opinion of cryptocurrency then so be it. It is their domestic economy which will miss some of the benefits of accepting crypto so let them have it. The whole world is turning positive with cryptocurrencies while Nigeria is still afraid of it being used in criminal activities and illicit affairs. No matter how hard the government and the central bank suppress crypto in the country, if the people wants to use it, they will find a way.

They are missing a lot in terms of taxes and investment opportunities in here tbh.

The only legitimate currency on the territory of any state is its own national currency and foreign currencies that can be exchanged for its own currency. Therefore, I simultaneously agree with their point of view and at the same time disagree, because cryptocurrencies are also gaining their place in the sun, and any sane state should allow citizens to make transactions.

It is not just about taxes and investment. I am from India and here the government made the same mistake two decades ago. When the dot com boom was at its peak, the government refused to relax strict regulatory rules for the IT firms. As a result, most of the investment in the IT sector went to other countries and the Indian IT companies, which had a good start during the 90s saw stagnation during the 2000-2010 period. By the time the government realized its mistake, it was too late. Many of the companies and qualified professionals had moved to other countries by this time. This time also they are doing the same mistake by taking a hostile stance against cryptocurrency. These people never learn from their mistakes.

but they should atleast not ban it right? they could make it commodity tbh so it won't confront nigerian's own money but the bank decide to outright ban it and punish whoever has it on their posession and that seem limiting human right. people buy btc with their own money not with bank's money so why so hard on it.

Nigerian money is not a legitimate money to me. Here I said this, does that make nigerian money worthless? Does it make it zero? It doesn't, whatever I say about nigerian money (no idea what it is called) doesn't change the fact that a whole nation uses it and will keep on using it and me saying it is worthless will not make anything, if I call it illegitimate that doesn't change anything for them.

Same goes for the central bank governor of nigeria as well, he could call bitcoin whatever he wants and that will change absolutely nothing. It will not change anything for people outside of nigeria of course, because we do not care about this dude at all, it is as if anyone else said it, it is literally same as some citizen of nigeria said it, it has the same weight, to us any regular person and governor of central bank have the same worth, and even in nigeria people will still use it.

It is called Nigerian Naira and I know the sentiment on your comment because even I was upset when I read the article and news. But from the government's point of view, what they wanted to say was that they don't recognize Bitcoins as a legal means of payment and currency, which is being understood as if Nigerian government has voiced against Bitcoin. I don't like their decision either but a lot of countries have banned the use of crypto and their the one in power, they can take decisions for their country.

Countries are reluctant against legalizing of cryptocurrencies because of the illegal means that come along with the legalization and no one can deny that the use of bitcoins, although unfortunate, is dominant in the black market and is easily used for illegal purchases.

Yes, with all the due respect to the USA, I can call US dollar as not legit currency. But my statement has as much impact as Nigeria calling Bitcoins as not legit money. People are selling their ass and buying bitcoins so there is hardly any debate we should have on this.

Tesla are selling car for BTC so if BTC is not legit then Tesla would be going in loss, according to this kind of theory.

As long as there are people buying/selling BTC, it's legit and worth in the market. I don't think banks will ever accept it though.

I don't understand why we are trying to get BTC legalized and accepted by banks, the sole purpose of developing BTC was to kill the central payment system and take away the control from banks.

Lots of illegal doers always finding ways to deal with their illegal transactions, which means crypto is not exempted,
but there's no excuses with how Nigerian government foreseen this industry.

If they think that this system is not acceptable as payment means then it's their predicament and that's part of their rights.
They are seeing it from the understanding that they've known about this entity.

We can't deny the fact that there are alike mindsets all around the world, just need to accept what other's opinions or what they've think about this system.

I can guarantee you they think the opposite, they think they are being smart because they think with this they are protecting their economy and their fiat currency, but what they do not understand is that if they wanted to protect their currency then they should have taken better decisions and should have avoided to abuse their position to enrich themselves.

But we know that is not going to happen and people know it so despite their prohibitions people are going to keep dealing with cryptocurrencies because they know what they are up to and people are not going to go against their self-interests just to abide to their wishes.

I highly agree.

Banking institutions will always defend their system as being a third-party consensus in which people would store cash due to a fiduciary relationship being formed. Cryptocurrencies eliminate for the need of such third-party and the banking institutions see this as a threat to the business.

While we are still at it, I speculate that cryptocurrencies would be one of the main currencies used in the future. The blockchain technology, also, will remain as the future generation of transactions in which the people are the ones who decided which are legitimate or not.

You would really be expecting these kind of calls from those government and other traditional big investors about crypto.They do simply hate something which is decentralized
and anonymous.

There's no way that they can easily accept crypto specially those banksters which its no surprising that they will really be giving out negative input with it
and trying to show off some false sentiments for people to believe on.

It is true that only the community will be the one to decide whether its legit or not.

Do we still have to talk about legitimacy when it is clearly shown in data's. I doubt these governor wasn't aware of this new technology as well as its advantage.

The Central bank of that country Nigeria is an extension of the federal government. And from the comments online that we have both read and heard from most officials occupying top government positions in that country, it is obvious that many of them are underinformed, misinformed or still holding on to old knowledge amd refusing to regard change

Bankers and their management may have their own opinions about cryptocurrencies. As a rule, this opinion is negative, since the cryptocurrency is a direct competitor to the banking system.
I am most interested in the position of the legislators of this country and what regulations are adopted in Nigeria in relation to cryptocurrency.

The issue is those institutions have a top to down vision of issues when most of the time things are resolved from the bottom to top, they think that since they have a lot of power they get to define what is a legitimate currency and that is not true.

Historically we know that a currency wins or losses by the usage that people give to the assets that are competing to become the dominant currency, bitcoin is better than fiat and over the long term the best currency has the tendency to win, they are trying to alter the natural flow of things with their decrees but it is not going to work as this does not change the underlying reality, and as long as that is the case and bitcoin is better than their fiat then they should prepare themselves because people are not going to stop using bitcoin at all despite whatever they say or do.

They are on the positive side of things in spite of having those negative views and sentiments on some sectors.

They are global leader on BItcoin trade:https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56169917 but there are some confusions due to crackdown https://www.dw.com/en/nigerias-cryptocurrency-crackdown-causes-confusion/a-56547374 . You would really able to tell that there is still some uncertainty when it comes to full adoption.

I absolutely do not support such restrictive measures against cryptocurrencies, but I perfectly understand the logic of such actions. It turns out that the Nigerian government sensibly assesses the possibilities of its national fiat currency and therefore are not going to arrange any competition between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. Let's be frank that the banking sector is not quite adapted for this and for many authorities there is a temptation to go the simplest way of prohibitions, rather than to find ways of interaction. Therefore, I am sure that these are all temporary phenomena and in the future, cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies will calmly get along in the same Nigeria.

As if the Nigerian Government has ever done or ever have the good intention for doing any thing good that while positively affects the citizens. I strongly believe that even the due diligence that they said would be done in understanding what and how the technology works is just a scam and they will never have any good intention to OK any thing that the citizens will benefit from. 

Given the corruption and nepotism that is prevalent in the third world nations such as Nigeria, why are you even surprised? All they care about is how to increase the tax revenue. They don't really bother whether the citizens are benefitting from it or not. I am from India and here also the government's approach towards cryptocurrency is the same. They are worried that they can't tax cryptocurrency transactions.

That is what government does best after all, prohibit what makes their people happy and content. If they aren't quite adapted as you have said then shouldn't they take the initiative to do so because this is a new technology and with Nigeria in the second place for crypto traffic, I don't think that a reason like that is going to fly. Hopefully, you are right that this is a temporary stint in the cryptocurrency history in Nigeria because I feel bad that their government is going to get their people left out.

I don't think their opinion is negative because most countries in the world don't accept crypto, although this situation has improved over the years as crypto offers value and economy for users and countries but apart from these positive benefits, fraud and illegal issues also revolve around crypto a lot, and the key to this story is deadlocked when the security of crypto is too great. If crypto is considered as legal currency, this situation will be more serious, governments of countries are never negative, they just want to protect their people

Legally they have the power to close down bank accounts of people who go against their T&C. So in this case we can't do anything about it. The only real option is to go for non-bank options, such as physical cash or digital gift vouchers as long as the banking ban is in place. Hopefully the Nigerian Supreme Court will reject the banking ban, just like what happened in India (the supreme court of India removed the banking ban on Bitcoin in 2020).

Also, banks would always say things like that with cryptocurrency because they see it as their competitor. However, things will still depend on how we deal with it. Despite the negative accusations that banks might throw about cryptocurrency, it still depends on how we trust it.

Many bankers are negative about cryptocurrency, but I am more confident that among their secret capital there is a certain amount of cryptocurrency. They also understand the irreversibility of the process, but at the same time they do not want to recognize this public.

It is just their own perspective and opinion towards Bitcoin so no point to argue for we all do have different ways on how we perceive things depending on the way we see it and understand how does it work. It is just a sort of mental discrepancy that differs the way we see things compared to other people. If that is what they believe, then let it be. As long as you do know what is the real thing about Bitcoin, so be it. No need to argue on things all over again. Let them believe what they wanted to believe because we know on ourselves how Bitcoin works on our lives and our perception is based on what we have experienced upon engaging into it.

I probably understand where you're coming from. We, third world country citizens especially, are full of frustrations and disappointments of our respective governments to the point that we question whether they still have even a little good intention left for their countrymen. But I probably won't completely rule out that perhaps some of them are in fact trying to do good in their government service. It's just that corruption, hypocrisy, and so on are extremely rampant.

On the other hand, let the voice of the people be heard. I mean, if the strong demand for Bitcoin or crypto is there from all sides of the population, for sure even the government would notice and truly consider. I think it's just a matter of time before they will realize that the entire world is actually starting to get friendly with Bitcoin.

Nowadays Bitcoin is not widely being used for making payments, and therefore there is no reason for the banks to think that it is a competitor. If that was the cases, then corporations such as PayPal and Mastercard would have never integrated Bitcoin to their platforms. These corporations have realized that association with Bitcoin can be mutually beneficial for both sides. For the banks also, that should be the case. But if they believe that they can stop people using cryptocurrency just by closing down their banking accounts, then it is a wrong assumption.

It is obvious that bankers will say negative things about crypto as long as they are outside of it and they will start saying positive things when they are in it, their talk is not repetitive of what they think, it is all about what will make them more money.

When they are out of it, they will say bad things because they are not making any money and on top of that losing money because of it so they will of course say that it is horrible even if they like it a lot themselves, and when they are in it they will say that it is awesome because crypto being higher will make them more money so they will promote it even if they start to think it's bad. This is why when there is a subjective opinion based on crypto it means absolutely nothing, but when someone powerful who can ban crypto says this would mean that crypto is doing bad in that nation for being banned.

They gave a flag that Cryptocurrency has no put in their framework was the explanation given right which implies they don't need their individuals to urge such opportunity so presently the choice is on the hands of people whether they need their futile notes which is able gotten to be worthless in following few a long time or need cryptocurrency which is able be future cash of the globe and it willbe require of populace to utilize crypto as medium of trade.

This is really unexpected from them because its like they are telling an obvious lie. They are trying to ban it because some users within their country is profiting from something they know. The users within that country has already used their Cryptocurrencies to be converted into Nigerian naria and if Cryptocurrency is not real money then how come some users were able to use it before the time of banning them. Its a digital asset which everybody can benefit from once they know how to utilize it.

Why do you think it was unexpected, anyone country who is try to come out with some form of restrictions or regulations will not accept BTCitcoin as legal tender in their country and it is not a big surprise and if they do that they there will be a huge inflow of money flowing into a decentralized market and they will not have any control over it. So do not expect any government to call BTCitcoin as a legal tender or money and it has nothing to do with the profits you can make, it is an entirely different thing altogether.

I am wondering, so in Nigeria, there are still debates or disagreements and views regarding whether or not cryptocurrency is legitimate, right?
In this case, how will crypto exist in the country? Are there still many enthusiasts who are still in the crypto world? And what about the real legal umbrella? I've heard that they banned from crypto.

In a way he is right because cryptocurrency doesn't have that much legal standing in many countries and the only way to become one is if the government recognizes and considers cryptocurrency as a legal tender which is difficult because cryptocurrency is supposed to be a decentralized financial tool which is in direct conflict of centralized financial institutions.

I believe it is only a matter of time before he changed his perspectives towards crypto. Right now, maybe he doesn't even know how transact using bitcoin but once he get acquainted himself with crypto or btc itself, I believe he will change his mind and appreciate its technology. But for now, he is saying what is in his mind. They can say whatever they want, but crypto users know if this is real money or not. And being legitimate depends on the country right now. If the country is legally accepting crypto, then we can say it is legitimate. But if the country is banning the use of crypto, then it is illegal, right?

Governments and central banks have had a monopoly on currencies for a long time, and like any monopoly they do not want to adapt they are trying to crush the competition with all what they have, but like it has happened many times in history the best product and service will win in the end and without a doubt bitcoin is better.

They were so dominant that they thought their position was never going to be challenged, this is a historical mistake that some of the most powerful monopolies have made and it always ends up in the same way, with the monopoly disappearing.

We do not know if the Nigerian government actually has cryptocurrencies and bitcoin, perhaps it disqualifies Bitcoin because it does not want its people to emerge towards a totally deflationary economy and achieve their financial freedom, in every government it is convenient for them to have total and absolute control of each economic movement, if cryptocurrencies enter they will see it as money laundering, then it is not appropriate and if a country that has inflation problems is unsustainable, I see it from that point of view, perhaps it is wrong, but it is simply a assumption that it can be real, and that is why it disqualifies it, the more ignorance it is sown, for them the better.

If that is what all they are worried about then that is fine, it seems they do not understand that bitcoin is not this mysterious money that few understand, people are going to begin to use it instead of fiat currencies in the future, forget about taxes their printed currencies will begin to lose value as people understand that they have been part of the biggest scam in the history of the world and that it was perpetrated and perpetuated by governments.

In a way I get why they are worried, their monopoly is being threatened and they have no way to defend it except by trying to make people to not use bitcoin and they are realizing this is not going to work.

I think that the main role here is played by concerns about the impact of bitcoin on the monetary policy of the state through the central bank. The financial authorities of the vast majority of countries in the world have already formed effective tools for monetary policy over the years, and therefore are very wary of new things like bitcoin. Therefore, some confidence on the part of such structures will be present, but the most important thing is that this does not lead to prohibitive measures.

The Central Bank of Nigeria believes the recent ban on digital currencies was in the best interest of the public. Speaking during a recent Senate hearing, the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele further claimed that digital currencies are not legitimate money.CBN issued a circular two weeks ago that prohibited all banks from processing digital currency-related transactions. In its circular, it ordered banks to identify individuals and firms dealing in digital currencies and shut down their accounts.

If they link it about currency then the reason for the ban I think is acceptable, because even in my country even though crypto is legal but still, it is only legal in terms of assets and trading and not about currency. With this difference in view, I think the central bank of Nigeria can still accept the policy on an asset because after all, the real use of cryptocurrency itself is still not widely practiced. Therefore, I think letting citizens trade and hold cryptocurrency, I think it will be fine and it will not destroy the economy.

We all have different government policies anyways. But seeing CNB has banned cryptocurrency transactions, they don't still have the control if the citizens continue to trade and invest in crypto because crypto itself is decentralized. For me, it still makes no difference i guess.

Maybe they're just not open to crypto opportunities and don't want to support it because they have different agenda. That's the main reason why they're banning it or saying that it's not legitimate money because they can't do anything on a decentralized asset, people still have the ability to buy and sell whenever they want. As we know that crypto has a huge effect on the economy especially if mass adaptation has occurred in Nigeria, it'll be out of control and it's normal for some countries to have regulations on cryptocurrency. 

A typical response from an individual who has close ties with a bank. Cryptocurrencies pose a threat to fiat money, since its goal is to establish a peer to peer network that is powered by its users. The lack of central authority is the reason why the government and central banks see this as a threat. Fiat money gives them a sense of control, enabling them to track currency movement, collect taxes on it, and trace criminal activity. All of these is lost with the rise of cryptocurrency. Emefiele says that it has no place in our monetary system because they dont want cryptocurrencies to be widely adopted by the population. Because we all know that when it does happen, banks will be irrelevant.

I don't get it, what is legitimate money? I do not get why some people who are usually old, some cases just powerful, do not like bitcoin? I mean I get it they fear that their fiat will become less valuable and bitcoin will be too powerful and that will make these people less powerful so they fear it and want nothing to do with it and ban it. However they do not realize that bitcoin could help them as well as help their nation as well? Don't they see this?

Let's assume you are a dictator of a poor nation, you could just give everyone tablets or laptops, not even expensive ones, help them build farms of whatever, tell them to charge bitcoin, and you could literally have both a lot of employment and those people who make money both will use it to get your economy better, get paid from other nations so you gain foreign currency which strengths your currency and you could tax them a lot and get their bitcoin as well which would make you both rich, your nation rich, and you rich.

It so happened that BTC and in general cryptocurrencies are now not that they are not legitimate money, they seem to be not money, but more of a kind of asset, which, as I know, is already beginning to regulate in many countries, which means at the official level on legal grounds BTC and cryptocurrencies are assigned a certain status. This means that you need to look at the laws in those countries where the regulation of BTC and other cryptocurrencies began, and there you will find out what BTC or other cryptocurrencies refer to. It is worth noting that there may be different concepts in different countries.

Well if you look at the price volatility of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, you will easily thought of it as an investment such as Stocks. The price changes indefinitely and not on a constant pattern which is look to as a Digital Asset rather than a Currency that we will wanted to achieve.
As of now, Stablecoins are much more like a digital currency due to the minimal changes on its price and acts just like a fiat money. I would also say that USDT, BUSD and other stablecoins should be considered as Digital Currency and which should be focused on by the Government Institutions.

Oh. Why is Bitcoin and other genuine cryptocurrencies are not legitimate money? Because the government said so, just to created FUD and to desist people from seeing Bitcoin the way it is.
What is money? According to Google Money is any object that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. Then why is Bitcoin not money when it is used for the activities money is used for?

You answered your own question ;) The legitimacy of a particular currency on its territory can be established only by the state and no one else. If tomorrow the Central Bank of Nigeria declares bitcoin a legitimate currency, then simply put, bitcoin will become a legitimate currency in Nigeria, although there are also issues with the regulatory framework. And if in Nigeria you can not use bitcoin for activities for which money is used, then bitcoin is not money there, and the point is.

Even after close to 100 replies, it seems like the users are confused about the statement from the Nigerian central bank governor. Obviously none of us expect Bitcoin to me recognized as a currency on par with the Nigerian Naira (NGN). The central bank has also clarified on this. On the other hand, we want cryptocurrency to be recognized as a legitimate investment asset. And as far as I know, the central bank seems to be OK with this.

Yes, legitimate means something which is acknowledge  by the owner or creator by law, the case of bitcoin or crypto currency is not legitimate because there's no law acknowledging crypto currency or bitcoin by its owner or there's no law legalizing bitcoin as currency that everyone can use in the form of payment.

However even crypto currency isn't legitimate currency but we can use it in the form of payment as one of decentralize money.

Nigeria SEC in support of cryptocurrencies while CBN not in support, p2p has been the best though, no bank charges and no conversion charges. 
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Wait, thought I have already seen a news that the Nigerian vice president is not in support of the ban of Bitcoin and has already said that they (Central Bank of Nigeria) should lift the ban on bitcoin and instead create rules to regulate it?

If the vice president has really said that, then they have no other option than to lift the ban soon, I guess the reason they have not lifted the ban till now is because they are still working on ways that they are going to regulate it. And let’s be true to ourselves, them banning Bitcoin doesn’t make any sense since people are now switching to P2P, so how exactly have they banned it? Lol.

Although bitcoin is deemed as illegitimate as Nigeria refuses to recognize bitcoin but atleast they could consider it as an asset and not banning people like that.
Many countries also didn't recognize crypto but atleast they gave their citizen the leisure of using crypto as an asset and not money, I think Nigeria central bank in this case, choose the wrong step not to mention this kind of technology sooner or later gonna dominate.

Yes, the vice president of Nigeria is in support of cryptocurrencies, but he has no power to make CBN to lift off the ban, he only encouraged them not to fear, that the world is change, and that Nigeria should blend with the changes, rather than banning what could be beneficial tomorrow for the country. So, the president only advice the CBN in his speech in a summit.

Nigerian crypto traders have resorted to p2p which is better and far more encouraging privacy than direct bank transactions from/to crypo institutions like exchanges.

Perhaps the central bank of Nigeria has their own plans and this idea is just a little warning, it doesn't pose too much of a threat to the crypto community, our community is big enough and so influential, the law is no longer something that can be bound by all users, the only result for warnings is that users are still comfortable using crypto. In the future, similar ideas will probably be scrapped as crypto purchases are slowly bank-linked on exchanges, the bank probably does not reject such a great and profitable service

I guess that right now they are starting to regret the actions that they have taken because I have already seen the news that they changed what they said and are now claiming that they never banned crypto currency trading for individuals, rather the instructions was for banks lol.

But, I have already seen those that they blocked their accounts for trading cryptocurrency, so why now do they try to go back on what they said and try to pretend like it wasn’t true? Now that they banned it they are going to know the true value of it. And moreover it’s a problem for them if the exchanges established there begins to move, lots of people will lose their money. It’s not going to be easy for real.