It was bloody Friday to every cryptocurrency user from Nigeria which I'm part of them when the CBN raised a red flag on cryptocurrency on February 5, 2021, even though crypto trading and investment have put Nigeria on the encouraging countries list since last year due to the massive number of cryptocurrency users in Nigeria which exchange site like Binance, luno, etc also confirmed through the numbers of traffic they gained from the country(Nigeria) because a lot of people from Nigeria sees crypto as a symbol of hope, financial freedom and total liberation.
With that been said, the reason why I consider the CBN ban on cryptocurrency to be on purpose is that the new circular content writing by the CBN is different from 2017 circular.
The first CBN circular on crypto in the year 2017 said
"1) Banks and other financial institutions should ensure they did not use, hold, trade, and /or transact in anyway virtual currencies.
2) Ensure that existing customers, that are virtual currency exchangers, have effective AML/CFT controls, that enable them to comply with customer identification, verification, and transaction monitoring requirements
3) Where banks or other financial institution are not satisfied with the controls put in place by the virtual currency exchangers/customers, the relationship should be discontinued immediately; and
4) Any suspicious transactions by these customers should immediately be reported to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
The CBN reiterates that Virtual currency such as Bitcoin, Ripple, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Onecoin, etc, and similar products are not legal tenders in Nigeria, thus any bank or institution that transacts in such business does so at its own risk."
2018 released circular said
"Cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, XRP, Monero, LTC, Doge, etc are not legal tender while exchange like NairaEx, etc was said not to be licensed or regulated by CBN and dealing with any kind of crypto in Nigeria are not protected by law"
Their new circular was said to be based on the 2017 circular which does not by any chance ban citizens from holding, trading, and transacting in cryptocurrency.
I combine all this circular together and I came to the conclusion that the CBN is doing this on purpose either for selfish or political reasons but why did they have to make their citizen suffer during the season of economic meltdown.
What are your thought and opinion on this issue?
