Bitcoin Forum

Government is good office but leaders involved have different motives, right now federal government order banks to trace any crypto related accounts in my country and block it. The banking system usually feels threatens when huge capital is withdrew from the accounts. But i real deals here is the government are afraid of citizens having independent living source.

Government loves to impoverished its citizens, a young Nigerian's account was  seize containing N2.5 billion, as bank ought the account to be related with crypto transactions. This is more reason while they're many bans from wicked government who refuses citizens financial rights.

AFAIK it was from the last year where Nigerian Bank will confiscate any money related with Bitcoin, so nothing surprised here. If the bank don't want to accept any money related with Bitcoin, what you can do is trade via P2P and increase your security level in order to hide from getting tracked by your government. You can also move to the other country which is friendly with Bitcoin.

This is an old news, something from 2020/2021, so it is absolutely no surprise to me at all.
Government and banks are no threat to bitcoin trading, rather they (government and banks) feel that bitcoin is a threat to their continues existence and operations.
Even with this ban on bitcoin and crypto related transactions, the youths of Nigerian have adopted bitcoin far even more than before the ban was placed, the p2p market is a lucrative means of exchange in Nigeria today because of the ban, and by this, crypto adoptions have continued to grow in the country, and will continue so for as long as bitcoin/cryptocurrencies continue to exist.

Do you have any links to back up this claim?
Based on your post histories, I believe you are a Nigerian, and as such, you are referring to the Nigerian government. 

So far as I know, the government only asks the financial institutions to disengage from every crypto transaction, even though the government has not made it official that they should track down every crypto account. They are against crypto, but they have not yet made it public that banks should trace all crypto transactions. That does not mean that we should make our transactions known to them that they are crypto-related. 
The government has always been against crypto, and Bitcoin looks like a trait to them. and not them being a trait of bitcoin. 

When it comes to the Nigerian government, I believe they are just looking for a way to earn from the crypto industry since they still don't have ways to do trading and involve themselves in it, which is why they are stopping banks and other financial institutions under the CBN from disengaging from it. 

You know why they're worried when huge sums of money are withdrawn to their banks, it's because that they're facing a crisis right now and it's no longer a secret.

The more the people pulling out their money off banks and they're not just low amounts of money but noticeable too much, they should really be worried about it.

I don't see them as a threat honestly and they're contributing to bitcoin's price and have seen that many times.

In fact, what the government fears is that people will not pay taxes, but if unemployment increases and production decreases, or people find a way to hide their money so that their taxes are zero.
The rich have a lot of tools that make them reduce the amount of tax they pay to a very small amount, but it is the simple citizen who pays all that cost.
Cryptocurrencies have been a way for many people to reduce their taxes, and therefore governments will deal with them in two ways, either by banning them or trying to tax them.
The semi-secret nature provided by these currencies forces governments to stop any method of enhancing privacy, including the war on mixers.

You may want to read Bitcoin - a bloodless revolution (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5434249.0) by GazetaBitcoin. This is nothing new. Banks and governments are afraid of Bitcoin. They don't know how to defend Bitcoin. People don't understand why Government and bank officials spread FUDs. They have a fear of losing control over your money. Bitcoin Protects your money, and it's your own bank. Since they don't know how to defend Bitcoin, they will attempt to seize Bitcoin funds.

Suppose you are in a country where Bitcoin Transaction is not allowed. Never deposits your money in a bank. Do small transactions with them for daily needs. There is no way they can detect you are a Bitcoin holder until you publicize this and submit KYC on centralized exchanges. You have to be careful with your privacy.

I would put it a little differently, the OP belongs to the Nigerian local section. In addition to the fact that many have confirmed that this is an old topic, besides, why not discuss this topic directly in your section, where people directly understand the tragedy of the situation?
The title of the topic looks very general, but you need to understand that the situation with banking systems in different countries is different and who, if not a person directly belonging to the country in question, will be able to answer correctly.

I don't know why it will impact banking in your country so much. I mean, when Bitcoin and other cryptos are not used as a transaction tool in your country, why is there fear? as long as those who have Bitcoin still have to withdraw fiat through the Bank for needs.
what I'm thinking, obviously in your country Bitcoin and crypto assets are still banned. several countries that legalize their citizens over the ownership of Bitcoin assets. not really a problem with the transaction lines from exchanges and Banks in their countries. I hope, in your country everything will be good. like other countries that have started to open up with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Peer to Peer trading is good and bank transfers for payment between two trade partners does not have information related to Bitcoin or cryptocurrency trading.

Problems only rise if you are trading with a scammer and when you win and exit that scam, the scammer can submit a report to banks as his personal attack against you. I don't know how banks in Nigeria can get information about bank transfers related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. I really think that they have to depend on reports from users together with other authorities.

How will Nigerian banks handle those reports from their users?

Screenshot from a trade means nothing as it can be faked easily.

So there's nothing surprising about that. And it's not just in Nigeria. Any bank in any country can do that. The state banking system (and not only) is afraid of cryptocurrencies like fire, because they are afraid of losing all their power over the finances of citizens.

When it comes to the federal government and banks, a threat has existed for a while. They have tried several methods to shut down Bitcoin, but it has been an impossible task to get control over it. I also recall that, some years ago, the government in my region tried the same policy by instructing banks to forbid any accounts related to cryptocurrencies, and police began to harass those who were involved in it. Despite all of this, cryptocurrency is still growing steadily.

Currently, my region has some of the largest Bitcoin investors, and occasionally I get the impression that the majority of these government leaders also own Bitcoin. To this day, I still don't understand why they want to outlaw Bitcoin.

Banks and governments are indeed afraid. My bank sends weekly newsletter to their customers and the risk of Cryptos usually appears at least once in a month. It talks about how bad the bitcoin is. They are afraid because if bitcoin is widely accepted, the need of banking system finishes. So they will try every possible things to prohibit the use of cryptocurrency within their remit.

Couple of years back, even my government started doing the same thing. But now they have backtracked and imposed 30% tax on crypto transactions.

Not really, maybe you are thinking that right now because you are still using your fiat in some way but if we were to theoretically just use bitcoin for payments of goods and services, then there's a high probability that we won't see them as a threat. Not to mention, these banks see bitcoin as a means to grow their money too so until the time that they're still benefiting from it, I don't think we have to worry about them, just be aware but never paranoid.

Bitcoin is a treat to banks and governments,because it give them no clue of transactions made on the blockchain,and they don't also have control over those citizens financial life. A lot of people are dumping the banks for bitcoin,and this makes the government see that their fiat currency is been threaten by a currency that its theirs.

Nigeria youths have gone far in bitcoin adoption as long as I know,since the government don't care about the youths anymore. This make them to embrace bitcoin adoption as a means to earn a living for themselves through trading and as an asset. If you use an exchange to sell your bitcoin and get your money in your local fiat currency, I don't think that there is any possibility of the government to trace or track you down,if not so many Nigerians by now would have gotten their account freezed, including myself.

Bitcoin no doubt gives you privacy but people are caught while converting bitcoin to fiat or vice versa. Its fine as long as you remain in Bitcoin. There is very rear chance the government agencies can caught you while your bitcoins are in your decentralized wallets. We need to keep this in mind that government will crack down hard on bitcoin with every passing day, as its market capitalization and popularity keep increasing exponentially. There are problems for people living in countries which are not bitcoin friendly.

It's wild to ponder the extent of Bitcoin's menace to conventional financial institutions. They've gotta be quaking in their loafers! But honestly, is it that shocking? In an era where tech's ever-evolving, it was bound to happen—a superior financial management system. And let's not kid ourselves—governments aren't always our BFFs.

No shocker that many Nigerians are embracing Bitcoin for financial freedom. Who needs banks or governments, right? With Bitcoin, you're your own monetary genius! The cherry on top? Untraceable transactions, so your finances stay private and safe.

So here's to Bitcoin and Nigerian trailblazers! Time to seize control of our dough and bid adieu to old-school finance. Armed with humor and heaps of Bitcoin, we'll forge a brighter financial destiny!

Are you serious? I searched on Google and found that this amount is approximately 5475.119 US Dollar.  Is 5,000 dollars a "considerable" amount in Nigeria, or is the government so strict, or is what happened a "coincidence"?

According to what I have read, Bitcoin is not banned in Nigeria, so the forfeiture order means that person has been accused of money laundering, not because of Bitcoin.

Governments fight anything that reduces the control of the central bank, although the continent of Africa is difficult to control money compared to countries such as the United States and Britain.

In some cases, the government is not really afraid of it's citizen being financially okay, but concerned about the freedom it will give them from the banks . The banks are an extension of the government and by virtue of their position they're bound to obey whatever the government tells them because they are not independent from the government. Worldwide there always exist the possibility that the government could suddenly just decide to begin to track down, trace and seize cryptocurrency belonging to its citizens and arrest people associated. For this purpose were mixers created to add extra anonymity and security when you move your bitcoins in the Blockchain.

Financial freedom comes along with people's freedom to speak and criticize the government and eventually revolt against the government. It's not just about banks. But the government losing its grip on the people will eventually topple the government leader.

If it's happening in Nigeria, it's also possible to happen to just any country today where people have been enjoying the freedom to hold BTC to which they could support or fund an independent leader opposing the president.

As I said in my previous post, You have to be careful with your privacy. It's important. The Banks and the Government always want to take control of your money. If you use Bitcoin, They will lose control over your money. They are doing business with you using your money. You know the reason why they want to seize Bitcoin funds. Stay anonymous on the internet if Bitcoin is banned in your country. You shouldn't tell anyone that you own Bitcoin. Not even your friends and family members.

I won't suggest anyone to centralized exchange. But, Sometimes, we have to use it because of our needs if you use centralized exchanges to convert your Bitcoin for fiat. Do it part by part. Don't go all in. Use a payment method which has a low chance of tracing you. A few simple, easy things can save you from getting caught.

Dear OP, pease whenever you make this kind of post always try to back it up with source(s), it makes other readers to confirm the authenticity of your information and appreciate your post. You can also share your thoughts or opinion on the particular issue. We know the position of the central bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian government on cryptocurrency but making this kind of post in a forum with community members from all around the globe with little or no information is not encouraging.

The mindset of the leaders are always corrupt, they have not thought good for the citizens but only hardship. Bitcoin is not a threat to the government or the authority. But they don't understand bitcoin that is why they are having issue with the users of bitcoin. The government is ignorant of the system and the ICT team in government is not given the government good information instead feeding the government with fake information with data which misleading the government to take obnoxious laws and policies. I blame the ICT unit in government because they know the truth but they are not telling the truth.

I think almost all of the developing nations are doing this these days. I have heard such instances in India, Bangladesh and in Nigeria also. First of all the central banks of these countries are afraid the if some capital will come from such sources which aren't under their control chances are they will impact their development policies. In my country no matter which government comes i am sure that there still will be such a behaviour from central bank for Cryptos.

This is old news from 2021, Nigeria has since taken a new stance on cryptocurrency, the incoming administration as part of its campaign promised to be bitcoin-friendly.

It wasn’t a complex process and was easy to bypass. At the time, accounts involved in crypto transactions were identified using the narration note of the wire transfer or e-transfer, if the transaction note had key words like bitcoin, Binance, coin, e.t.c basically anything cryptocurrency related would cause them to flag the account.
There weren’t reports from users because both accounts (sender & recipient)were blocked. It was rumored that there were accounts controlled by law enforcement on p2p exchanges to fish out crypto traders.

Some exchanges have the option where you can use your debit cards to buy bitcoin directly, and also exchange your bitcoins to fiat directly to your account. These are easy ways for banks to know you’re involved in cryptocurrency even if they do not act immediately, just know you have already been compromised.

That's not new anymore as we know that Banks and Government are working together to make our lives harder rather than comfortable just like what they used to advertise it. The arrival of bitcoin has been a big help to us because aside from it gave us hope and choices how to protect ourselves from the inflation, it also gave us knowledge that governments are not that friendly as they are just taking advantage of the power they have for their own selfish gains. Well, at least from my perspective because I don't know about these things until I meet bitcoin.

You are very right, and I hope the OP or someone will report this topic moving to the local Nigeria board or locking it down and continuing it in the local board. Some Nigerian users may need to know this especially if the topic specifically relates to Nigeria, its government etc.

Also I want to ask, is Nigeria a Federal state? Just a moment, I've found the answer.

Not only in Nigeria, the government does things like that to its citizens, things like this are not strange anymore, including in my country. The government seems unwilling to see its citizens have progress (especially in the financial sector), perhaps because there are no benefits that go to them. Even though bitcoin/crypto investors have never had any detrimental elements for the government, even from the experience I experienced and I saw from people around who invested in bitcoin/crypto, many people were helped financially.

So where exactly is the fault of bitcoin/crypto investors? they are just trying to make a living for themselves and for their families. And they also never ask for capital from the government. The government should be proud of its citizens, because its citizens can make money independently, without having to trouble the government. And in essence, if there is no income that goes to the government, in my country it also seems that the use of bitcoin/crypto will most likely be banned, but fortunately the government is quite tolerant in responding to this bitcoin/crypto problem.

It is not about government not wanting citizens having independent source of living but they want a means that they can monitor all financial services in the country. Apart from the allegation of money laundry from the onset of bitcoin creation, the government tries hard to limit the use of bitcoin but this is not all countries. Understanding your post, it looks like what happened in Nigeria. For example in Nigeria, the government had to block access to some account linked to the bank because they were means that the youth were funded to hold government to her knees during the #Endsars protest. After that protest the government came up with that ban which has really been criticized but the government has been adamant on that, refusing to allow citizen freely trade on bitcoin.

It's not about source of living but rather they afraid that people will not need anymore fiat to purchase since thy have fully control on it while Bitcoin is completely decentralized which people cannhold without paying any taxes if they will.

Government will always be like this even with different administration because they want a full authority on something to manipulate the finances of the citizen and imply the rot fiat system that prone on inflation.

Not only in Nigeria but all around the world most of the country government has same mind-set about cryptocurrency rather than el-salvador, because it's a big treat for  banking system. Government of any country got a handsome of money from banking system in shape of taxes, but at the same time on the other hand cryptocurrency is totally opposite, there is no profit for government and by adopting cryptocurrency citizens got financial freedom from government while government is not in Thier favor..

If the government persists in clashing with Bitcoin and blocking accounts associated with Bitcoin transactions, it is likely that individuals will turn to the black market to use Bitcoin. This decision is baseless and merely a pretext for seizing accounts with funds. I despise such futile efforts. Additionally, both banks and centralized governments consider Bitcoin to be a threat to their interests. They do not appreciate our financial independence. Eventually, they will realize that Bitcoin is unmanageable and impossible to disregard.

All governments and banks are threatened by BTC also. Nigeria is where the CBDC has also experimented and they want all people to use it. If people are not using it, the government is alarmed. In order for you to try the CBDC, they will definitely coerce the use of CBDC by banning and seizing crypto assets from Nigerians.

Quite totalitarian but they will do what's good for them and you as a person who wants freedom also do what you need to do.

There is nothing new about this news, the government and there stands on cryptocurrency. At the time, crypto is seen by the government as anti to fiat which is there product through which theh generate funds in taxation and use to gain some level of control over the economy in the nation. The government is never going to abandon its product for some fiat, it would always value fiat more and orchestrate tratte gies to discourage its citizens from transacting with cryptos.

It is fundamental at the time in the regions of no acceptance, individuals be mindful of the nevers they do not to draw attention and the comments they leave on exchanges after transacting. These are means that leads to these traces.

Why do you this Bitcoin is still not the legalized world currency? It is because the Government want to control us. They have created a system where everything is under their control. Anything that threaten that system, such as Bitcoin, they will try to suppress it no matter what. So this action is not a new thing. Many people have been put to jail just for being involved with crypto. Their offense was they owned crypto. It happened in my country.

Bitcoin comes with freedom, which is a sore to the eye of the Government. The day they accept our freedom, only then we can see no ban on Bitcoin. It's a shame to know what the Government is missing out on leaving Bitcoin to the side.

The Nigerian government has had a law prohibiting cryptocurrency transactions and banks from participating in them for some time, but despite this, the use of bitcoin has increased significantly. P2P transactions have made it possible for ordinary Nigerians to trade bitcoin without the knowledge of the government.

The government, I'm sure, is aware of citizens' involvement in cryptocurrency trade, but they can't completely prohibit or restrict their use because they know the citizens have found a means of livelihood there that they were unable to provide for them.

With recent developments in the country, we may see the Nigerian government reconsidering the use of cryptocurrencies in the country and lifting the ban on them; this will be great news for the crypto community, which we expect to hear soon with transition of government happening soon.

Do you know why banks are not in support of bitcoin? If they can support bitcoin then they will lose lots of customers, most of the money you deposit into your bank accounts are been used by banks to run their own business, some of them loan companies the money which their will be interest in the money. If they accept bitcoin then average Nigeria citizen won’t leave money in bank anymore. I believe that’s one of the reasons banks are not in support of bitcoin.

Bitcoin disrupts the financial system and obviously, traditional financing institutions will be threatened especially when a new competitor offers innovation, more financial transaction freedom and independence from the banking services.



I do not think this applies to all government and is dependent on what kind of leader the government has.  Good leaders wanted their citizen to be fruitful and above poverty so they are doing their best to create programs that can improve the status of their constituents.  Of course, the greedy and corrupt politicians will do the opposite and will often create a half-baked project to cover up their corruption.  Or they will deliberately implement regulation in guise of innovation and certain institution improvement but obviously bring more difficulty to their citizen.

Well this is currently my situation.
I have called my local banker and said that the would be a large transaction next week. That I had to protect my savings against the current inflation.
She then offered me a 2% profit rate with a savings account. I laughed it off and said that the inflation is a multitude of the profit rate any bank can offer.

When she sees that half of my bank savings are going to Binance, I expect alarm bells to go off.

Nothing we can do about it, unfriendly countries towards bitcoin usually do that. Banks and its government always do partners and shares the same ideology towards crypto, good thing it's not in my place.
What people should do about it is doing p2p like others have said, and avoid transacting for large amount of money in one go since it will eventually be detected by the banks, if it can be traded/transferred for multiple times, much better.

While all of this is true, I also believe that the US government has always manipulated financial laws to their favour.
If you divide the current debt by the amount of American citizens, you end up with a number so high that it could never be repaid.
So the financial system was rigged to allow Americans to live far above their standard. And particularly rigged to enslave other nations with debt traps.

BTC ends all of that and governments are terrified of it.
In fact they are now launching central bank digital currencies, which are even more rigged than the original fiat money already was.
They want total control, and are fighting against a system that offers the exact opposite.

I find it hard to believe that the little people could ever win

Going for multiple transactions against the single transaction is good. I had the similar experience years back and I'm not aware of the bank policies. For some reason I was to withdraw a huge amount and soon after the withdrawal being processed I was called by the manager and questioned of how the money came to your account and what's the need of big withdrawal and you haven't made such withdrawal earlier. I feared and further said it came from my friend and I'm withdrawing for some medical purpose. So, we should be careful as the banks always keep eye over us how to steal the money from the people.

I think that's reason for only some people, most of us use it because we want to make a profit. I mean I understand that if you do not want to get caught, then using bitcoin is a good idea, but there is a fact that we are not going to see too many people end up using bitcoin for this purpose. I can buy bitcoin, and then keep on buying even more bitcoin and I will be able to get rich by the time I retire, that is the main reason I use bitcoin.

Obviously I dislike the government as well because there is nothing in the fiat world that could get me rich since government makes sure that we do not get rich if we just play by the rules, so we need to get out of the game and change the rules in our new game, which is buying bitcoin.

It's not that easy to move to another country because of Bitcoin, every countries have their advantages and disadvantages, if OP is in Nigeria, all he must avoid when using a P2P trade from Fiat to Crypto or ViceVersa is not to include any Crypto related words on the transaction, some sellers on Binance exchange always leave this notice on their board to never include any crypto words to avoid getting track down and arrested by the government, I am sure anyone who follows this rules using P2P will never be in any trouble.

Nice

Really? You as well? I know a lot of people buy Bitcoin just to be more prosperous. Well, I don't blame them. Bitcoin Price will be high over time. It doesn't mean you should use Bitcoin because it will make you rich. Look, If everyone holds Bitcoin and never uses it to buy goods, How will it spread worldwide? Also, there is no guarantee that you will be rich if you hold Bitcoin.

Centralized exchanges control 99% market. You can see massive market manipulation if they do shit. It may take a long time to recover where it was. Most people don't know how to hold. That's why we see fear when the Bitcoin price moves lower trend. Do you think everyone can hold?

You should use Bitcoin as your wallet too. If you see a massive adoption of Bitcoin in your area, you can buy goods using Bitcoin. Bitcoin Protects your privacy. People shouldn't know your wealth.

Since the government owns the bank in my region, they implement very palatable policies that are very unfavorable to the ecosystem for bitcoin. After the government instructed commercial banks to block accounts related to cryptocurrencies, people began to use wallets instead when they wanted to conduct peer-to-peer transactions.
Yet despite all of the threats, there is no way for them to prevent people from investing in bitcoin, otherwise, I fail to understand what bitcoin has done to the bank's if not for there self-serving interests.

In the end, it all comes back to quantity. If the majority of a nation choose to use crypto, then the government will have nothing to stand against with. This is the reason, they control the media and only spreads news about the bad usages and side of crypto/Bitcoin. That way they create fear amongst the people and corrupt their mind. In that process, they spread fear in our heart so that we won't choose crypto over their controlled fiat currency. The system is broken and we are their puppets.

And about CBDC! I agree with it. They can literally manipulate one's holding if it is stored in their database. How can we be safe from that. The answer is Bitcoin. Yet only few people know about it. Even after learning the truth, many try to overlook this fact. Cause? Fear.
So it all came down to one solution, and that is acceptance of Bitcoin amongst ourselves. Not the government, and not by any other system.

People say in the thread it's been a while since that story the op mentioned. But still, I agree it's sad when a government goes against the people. I sort of see why the government doesn't want any businesses or income that isn't taxed, but they could be mild about it, and also it's Nigeria's fault as a state that they still haven't made favourable crypto regulations, considering how popular cryptos seem in Nigeria from various threads on this forum. It's not like Nigeria's a rich country; they could really use a boost by supporting crypto entrepreneurs in the country and encouraging crypto business to flourish there.

Whoa, hold up - this is some seriously concerning news! Unfortunately, it's all too typical for the government to put its own interests above those of its citizens. Looks like they're trying to stifle our financial freedom, but let's not let that hold us back. We're fully capable of achieving financial independence, no matter what the government throws our way. In fact, I think their actions will only push us to be even more innovative and resourceful. We have the skills and expertise to offer valuable products and services that people need, and that means serious cash flow for us. So let's not let the government get us down - let's use their actions as a spark to ignite our full potential!

It seems that the government is not trying to fight the people, but they are fighting the decentralization of finance because of bitcoin.
I can say that I am one of the lucky users that my country's government is not trying to block bank accounts associated with crypto transactions. The government has implemented a tax on all crypto transactions in trading, it is a win to win situation between users and the government instead of banning us from trading them.

I agree with you, it is the way it should be. But whatever it is, the government has the right to regulate whatever they think is good for the country in the long term. For temporary solution is to use P2P trading, or move to crypto-friendly country.

The government will always resist decentralization or any factor that will limit its authority.  Bitcoin is one of these factors that limits government authority over finance so it is obvious that the first step of the government is to protect their authority which can result for banning Bitcoin or taking a hostile steps towards Bitcoin while they are preparing for regulation where the can control the effect of decentralization and lost of authority.  Thus they implemented KYC on centralized services and any possible means to control the data and statistics of Bitcoin transaction.


Government has the authority after all.  So the government can do whatever implementation they wanted or any approach they think fit for Bitcoin with regards to their country.

The irony of all of this is that banks want their customers to keep using their services as they feel threatened with the emergence on the popularity of cryptocurrencies all over the world, and how exactly are they trying to convince us to keep using their services? By blocking our bank accounts, lol, you cannot make this up, if anything this is going to make the conviction of those which are willing to use cryptocurrencies even stronger, as they know that at any moment their bank accounts could be closed and they need to convert their fiat to crypto as soon as possible so this does not happen to them.

Base on my little research, the Nigeria government no want the youths to make more money than the most of the leaders, rather them like the youth not to work, which no Job in the country. Bitcoin has come to create a global wealth job opportunities, as long they is internet service in your location, which it has empowered many Nigeria citizens and across the globe.