Bitcoin Forum

It is one year plus when Nigerian Government banned Crypto and instructed all the banks to stop using crypto for transaction in the country.

A Financial Marketing Journalist, Olumide Adesina gives the reason why Nigerian Apex Bank should uplift the crypto ban in the country.

https://nairametrics.com/2022/03/11/why-cbn-needs-to-lift-crypto-ban-on-nigerian-banks/

Upon the ban of the currency, Nigerian youths still use the currency effective.

I am personally not hopeful that the federal government would renege on its decision to ban banks from getting involved in crypto transactions, beyond articles like these, the benefits of bitcoin to the citizens are evident, and one of them which sticks out a lot is the freedom it gives to users, and not every country wants the people to have that kind of freedom, especially as controlling the financial system is one way countries control the people.

Cause you cannot ban the bitcoin network, you can only ban yourselves from it. As a decentralized asset, no one has control to prevent transactions.

No doubt, crypto people in any country where bitcoin or crypto is banned still uses it, trade and get profit of course with safety measures. It's just unfortunate, that in instead of regulating it where the government and its people benefits on it, they keep ignoring its potentials.

The problem is in your country it was legal first then the govt banned it.

Think about my country, Bitcoin is banned here from the beginning, and govt. harass people if they could able to know the engagement with cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency is referred to here as black money. Those who trade in cryptocurrencies are treated like smugglers.
But has the government been able to keep the people away from cryptocurrency? No matter, people are now more aware and regularly investing in cryptocurrencies without any problem in behind the eyes of the government.

The Nigerian government has banned crypto now they are losing tax money, in fact, they will never be able to stop the users.

Government is old school and they are skeptical to know new things. If they just do a research about it they would know beneficial it is to their citizens and for sure the only thing they know about it is those illegal transactions like people use this for scamming. If government is open for new tech for sure this could give their citizens a better life.

The author of the article is smart and sees what those knuckleheads in Nigerian Central Bank cannot, which is that you can't stop something that people want. You can try to discourage them by banning banks from processing transactions but if people really want to use bitcoin they will find a way to do it and they are doing it. It's the same as banning cannabis in the States. Eventually they saw that selling people licenses to grow and sell and making them pay taxes is the better approach. I hope Nigerian government will come to their senses.

Rather than keep hoping the government and banks to unban Bitcoin, you can start your Bitcoin journey without involved by centralized party. Let's imagine if the government uplifting the ban, anyone will freely use centralized exchanges, but after a year they planning to ban again and froze the funds that involved with Bitcoin. There's one reputed member in this forum offer exchange service especially for Nigerian BrainbossXchange Service {BTC/NGN Altcoins/BTC/Stablecoins} <Rate changed> (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5200468.0)

Government making Nigerian difficult to use Bitcoin, but they can't stop Nigerian to use Bitcoin.

One of Nigeria's greatest challenge is corruption. And this present administration promised to get rid of corruption in Nigeria. Due to misinformation the government believe that crypto aid fraud and money laundering. Although, fraudstars are really using the cryptocurrencies to engage in crime, but that doesn't  erase the fact that crypto in now a veritable tool for economic development. The eNaira is just an experiment that has failed. It was created to compete or limit the use of cryptocurrencies. But it failed abysmally because businesses still prefer crypto. The government should study the crypto space and come up with regulatory policies that would not undermine the uniqueness of Bitcoin and others.

Although I agree with you, I would put it the other way around. There is virtually no country on earth today that wants its citizens to have that kind of freedom. They want us dependent on the state and the monetary system.

This has led to the fact that with the emergence of cryptocurrencies, states have reacted and come up with CBDCs as an alternative to cash, which are the dream of every state controller, because unlike cash, with CBDCs the controllers are going to know what you spend all your money on, and they can do things like:

1) Program it to expire, to stimulate consumption.
2) Punish you for behavior that is not considered correct. For example: if you use a combustion car, or have not had certain vaccinations, apply a negative interest rate to what you have on account.
3) Reward you for behaviors that are considered correct.
4) Instantly block your money. If you have cash saved at home, they can't do this.

Anyway, I don't know the Nigerian situation specifically, but I don't think so either.

How do you cashout BTC?
There are ways to cash out of course going through banks or 3rd party will be risky for you. And if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't risk meetup or peer to peer either.

ITs still best for the Nigerian government to consider lifting bans for crypto because it might be too late for them when the rest of the countries all around the world are adopting crypto and again Africa will be behind again.

I don't think that not only Nigerian youths are using crypto online, there could be more in Nigeria. But perhaps it was the younger generations that take advantage of crypto, no doubt.

As for the ban, it won't deter anyone, on the contrary, it can make crypto more famous because of curiosity. It's decentralized in nature, so how can the government stop them?

To say that the government can't stop crypto is like saying they can't stop cocaine. That's true, but they can, of course, fill prisons to try and curb the problem. A massive crackdown like that would hurt ordinary Bitcoin users, and the exchange rate would sink for all practical purposes.

I remember about this prohibition at the height of the covid pandemic where people actually needed alternative payments to earn income other than their main job. I thought it would hurt Nigerians, but I'm surprised that the ban actually leads to an increase in crypto usage in Nigeria during 2021.

This time I support this Journalist's suggestion, the Nigerian government must give up or they'll have no chance of profiting from its people's hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto transactions

correct, because they make it legal at first before banning it, so now it's impossible to stop those people who see the real potential of crypto currency than fiats, because surely no matter what the situation of crypto on their country its useless, i mean they will keep looking for a way to access crypto currency in order to continue the activities.. So its a big mistake because they can't get a tax anymore..lol

There are peer-to-peer exchanges which connect buyers and sellers together such as bisq and hodlhodl. There are also P2P options on centralized exchanges where users can trade directly with each other through a regulatory system acting as escrow.

Bitcoin was designed to be a peer-to-peer network, so it is ironic you would not risk that, but would trust a third party system.

To my greatest surprised, Nigeria is one of the first five countries in the world having the highest number of bitcoin users and yet it government haven't come to the realization of this huge population of crypto users and think a way out to adopt it or reinstate back the access to transactions by it financial authority.  While their E-Naira digital fiat is nowhere to stand before the mass adoption of bitcoin in the country among the teeming  youths.

That's what has been happening but those people who still use it today no matter how strict the measures are taken by their government are truly brave and they also continue to support the financial revolution as well. these government doesn't have their own agenda where they will gonna propose something to tackle the issue of cryptocurrency and use it for their own and their people's advantage but instead, they chose to harden it for everyone and continue with their senseless behavior which truly doesn't really make sense.

Nigeria is one among the country to have its CBDC. Maybe to enrich the usage of e-naira the Central Bank of Nigeria might've taken such an action. As per my understanding cryptocurrency is much associated with the different forms if crime and other illegal activities due to its decentralised nature.


Inspite of such a ban the usage of cryptocurrency in Nigeria keeps booming. This means people are well aware of the market and it shows how people are looking for a way to make use of cryptocurrency amidst the ban.

It's obvious that their government really didn't know what will be the impact of bitcoin and the rest of crypto to their economy. Just look at the numbers in Nigeria, it's getting traction since 2017 and yet government are trying to ban it? Doesn't make sense at all. Anyhow, for sure those statistics will continue and maybe if some liberal are going to sit on some higher and influential positions, their could be a change of stance.

Maybe they know but they don't want their people to get a better life because those corrupt cannot use them when election came, we know this types of politician always use the poor people for their own gain so I guess they will block all of things which can possibly make other people advance and they maybe hate crypto because they can't control it.

The Nigerian government is not the first to reject the development or growth of crypto and they will not be the last, and crypto has struggled against countries that have banned it.
and the good news is that crypto will always win, I would be surprised if the Nigerian government didn't resist the advancement of cryptocurrencies. But one thing is for sure, you can't swim against the tide for too long because blockchain technology and crypto assets will still be around.

I believe that one day they will have a change of heart like the cases of India and Russia mulling a ban of cryptocurrencies last year. Coz’ no matter if the ban takes effect, there’s no way for them to stop BTC and it’s underlying blockchain technology.

Even in China who is anti-crypto and banning all of its citizens, banks and financial institutions to engage with crypto, the community is still strong there by using non-custodial wallets, VPNs, P2P transactions, etc.

The Central Bank officials should uplift the ban of crypto in Nigeria and find a means of taxing and monitoring all sort of cryptos transactions so as to curb money laundering and funding by terrorist organisations.
Cryptos can alternatively generate income for their government going by the huge numbers of users in Nigeria, honestly their government had got wrong in that aspect,  decentralized feature of crypto had not deter the users of cryptocurrencies in Nigeria in fact the numbers of P2P transactions of users in Binance and Localbitcoin had grown in leap and bound without the Central bank being aware of thus a big plus for crypto.

Does not seem to be perfect idea for nation like Nigeria. No hard feelings but the country is suffering a lot from the fiat mis management and its not up to the mark by their Government. People are suffering out of inflation already and I have seen pictures floating around the internet where people of Nigeria are carrying million of niagra in cement truck with most of the physical notes lying around etc. This means it has no value at all. Nothing.

If in such complicated case they go start using the crypto currencies then their people might loose money in the process. Plus they won’t be able to buy significant amount of crypto as it is already too high cost for them.

This was a good example of government can't control the crypto currency for now.The transaction of crypto currency was an unstoppable one. Huge flow was not controlled by a small stone obstacle.Nigeria is the developing country with less amount of people with the employment.Employment was the live source of people in common.Crytocurrency giving the job opportunity with the placement. So they won't skip the involvement.

Government can do anything and everything they want! Have you ever heard of China's "The Great firewall"? Just try to speak to any Chinese people and you will know. Anything and everything that is accessed through internet has to pass through the great firewall. You can't even access Google from China. So if a government wants, they can do anything and everything. It's either just that Nigerian government doesn't want to take extreme measures to stop cryptos in their country or they don't have the infrastructure.

But that's good for cryptocurrency in general. At least the Nigerian scammers have found something to drool on!

This is a story of almost every developing country, they are just banning cryptos unknowing of the actual consequences of the same, the problems that are coming due to this is that folks are now circumventing the banking system and doing transactions using P2P, this has led to even lesser accountability in the hands of government and at the same time made cryptos even riskier, I think instead of doing these blanket bans it's better if the governments just decide to regulate crypto by allowing transactions only through KYC exchanges and shut down p2p where traceability is not available, these would be much better for governments themselves in the longer run.

The ban of cryptocurrency in some African countries like Nigeria is not proper. Because Africa is one continent that seriously need cryptocurrency to survive. Regarding the bad governance in this part of the world it's a good thing for youths to get hold of a freedom asset that will keep them off from thinking about the wrong did of the Government. It will as well help reduce depression and crime. As most crime are being committed by youths because of unemployment. On the uplifting of the ban in Nigeria, it's the best choice for the citizens who are into cryptocurrency.

The idea of the ban was initially from the aspect of politics to prevent the sponsor of deprived Nigerians youths from protesting and they also think it could help rival the rich old Nigerians that might be interested in political posts by 2023 election. This killed many exchanges like Luna and make P2P trade fly high in the country, yet could not make any regulation because most used exchanges are not located in the country. 

It seems the Bitcoin situation in Nigeria is not anymore dependent on either the Nigerian banks or even the Nigerian central bank. It is not even dependent on the government's decision either. In fact I think Bitcoin has become stronger among the Nigerian people ever since the implementation of the ban on the use of Bitcoin in the country. So whether the Nigerian government or the Nigerian central bank will uplift its ban or not Nigerians would continue to use it.

Cryptocurrency is quite popular in Nigeria than in any other country. And there are a few reasons behind that. Bank could ban the cryptocurrency but it couldn't prevent citizens from using decentralized cryptocurrency anyway. Many citizens earn cryptocurrency by selling their skills. Its positive support for the Nigerian financial ecosystem. I know many scammers live there, but good people shouldn't punish bad people. I think Nigeria's central Bank observing deeply and they will step in on what they should do. There are a few technical things that they need to study more.

TOP 10 – The Weakest World Currencies in 2021 (http://bookmyforex.com/blog/worlds-least-valuable-currency/) From this post, you will notice that Nigeria is not in the top 10 countries listed here.
This is obvious that you did not read the article about whatever picture you saw on the internet about the million Naira in cement trucks. Most of those publications were mostly about corrupt politicians that were caught with a stash of monies and if you check properly it is not only in nairas but in US Dollars as well and it wasn't about because the countries currency has no value even though we know there is inflation too. The Government knows why they might not want to uplift the crypto ban and the citizens know that too, regardless, the people are still in it big.

As you said that's even more than one year since they did it but I have many friends in Nigeria and all of them use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies without of problem, even some of them are active members here in the forum and posting here about bitcoin, which is a great sign for us about something, bitcoin is unbearable and even if the government ban bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies still people can keep investing selling and buying bitcoin through many other platforms, however, I believe the Nigerian government as wasn't serious as china because comparing to them china made serious desition about suspending bitcoin and bitcoin transactions.

It is a reality that we are talking about something a bit more serious whenever a government makes a decision. I mean it is decentralization that we care about in the blockchain coding, but decentralization of what we can do with the crypto never existed. This means that governments can tell us what we can do with crypto, can't change anything about it so changes us. Nigeria taking a step back is a proof of how powerful crypto community is.

Not just in big nations, but in Nigeria type of places as well. It means that we have to realize that we have this power and we need to use it for betterment of crypto as well and grow it as big as we can, not just in price, but in reputation all around the world.

This is the scenario with most of the countries that keep themselves high on cryptocurrency usage. I find there is imbalance in the financial level around Nigeria. There are elite people as well as below poverty people. This has to change. The low level people are slowly getting uplifted out of bitcoin and that might hurt the elite. This seems to be the major reason why the government have suddenly entered into this controversy.

Fact is :
When they decide to ban cryptocurrencies like bitcoins they cut off the connection with the banks, sending and receiving money through trading gets harder but what they don't realize is : It gives people chance to take the government influence out entirely and make a community on their own do p2p transactions more effectively which at the end decreases their influence on the market as well. Therefore I do think that banks or anything else are not necessary and they are just causing long term probelms for them if they continue to that since they can either partner with the cryptocurrencies or they can leave the side entirely, partnering would provide them with more benefits as well therefore I think government needs to look into that and they need to change the rules according.

Unless a government is willing to literally shut off the whole Internet forever then bitcoin cannot be stopped, and since they are not willing to do that as it will have a tremendous effect on the economy as a whole then their population will keep on using bitcoin, this is why many countries have instead opted out to regulate the market instead, and while that is a more reasonable choice, those regulations will fail as well, as any person can simply choose to not observe those regulations and the governments cannot do nothing to stop him.

This was considered in our nation. Someone in the economy ministry said that we should print fiat and buy bitcoins with it. It would devalue our fiat and would be bad, but it would allow us to actually buy bitcoin to hedge against it as well.

In 5-10-20 years that would be a move that would allow us to actually recover that loss, and become a super powerful nation (not like USA or UK or Russia, but more than right now) and that was actually only reason why I could be fine with printing money. Yes it hurts you in the short term but it would help you more than it hurts you in the distant future. I may suffer because of it, but our children will benefit from it.

Of course everything relating to government is a serious thing but some won't join the talk if they have no interest on it. Decentralization of crypto does exist mate, cant you see we have decentralized stuffs? like dexs, dex wallets, p2p platforms and so on.

Government banning crypto is I think don't remove the cryptos decentralize nature but they only banned the access with it and they also ban the support for banks, that is happening now on nigeria but Nigerians are lucky because they can still use crypto. That is more important there but its nice to know that a journalist is concern and convince the banks to lift the ban. Let's just hope they will get convinced.

I don't see any real and serious impact for crypto users in Nigeria, even though the government has banned Banks from getting involved in this, the proof: the Nigerian community in this forum, they are not bothered by that policy.

Maybe for me laws and regulations like that are not a dangerous thing for Nigeria, my country has also issued a proclamation about the prohibition of crypto, but crypto especially Bitcoin is getting crowded and used by many people, even now the government is also doing the same thing with the crypto community.

Overall, crypto remains the mainstay for many people, I'm sure Nigeria is the same.

Without a doubt that will be a bold move, but at the same time it shows very clearly why governments cannot be trusted with printing money, it would be the easiest thing in the world to try to reduce expenses in some areas that are not key to your country, save that money, then invest it in bitcoin and hold it for the long term, but that is not what politicians think, that is to complex for them to do when in their minds they can just print money and be done with it, providing one more example of why we desperately need bitcoin.