Nigerian Banks To Close Accounts Involved with Crypto

[dkbit98]

Trust me this is only temporary measure for Nigeria and we can just look at example of country India that had banned and unbanned Bitcoin and crypto several times.
Nigeria will probably add some new law that regulate crypto better and banks will allow crypto transactions again, and what are they going to do when Visa adds cryto...ban Visa also? Let's be serious please
Meanwhile, Nigerians can use p2p trading because nobody can ban that.
 

[noormcs5]

Trust me this is only temporary measure for Nigeria and we can just look at example of country India that had banned and unbanned Bitcoin and crypto several times.
Nigeria will probably add some new law that regulate crypto better and banks will allow crypto transactions again, and what are they going to do when Visa adds cryto...ban Visa also? Let's be serious please
Meanwhile, Nigerians can use p2p trading because nobody can ban that.
 

So what's the use of this temporary measure of banning bitcoin which causes pain and anxiety for the people who are dealing and earning crypto currencies. I am sure that these government wish to ban the crypto and they try every thing they can think of to ban it. But when they see that's impossible to ban crypto, they announce it to unban it. 

[Yogee]

Trust me this is only temporary measure for Nigeria and we can just look at example of country India that had banned and unbanned Bitcoin and crypto several times.
Nigeria will probably add some new law that regulate crypto better and banks will allow crypto transactions again,

They are not ready for cryptocurrencies although they've already heard of it in 2017 and so they ban all. I think most of their system is so fucked up that they can't get anything to help the country move forward. It's probably weakness in leadership in Government and different institutions but I'm just guessing. Nigerians would know better.

and what are they going to do when Visa adds cryto...ban Visa also?

Visa will partner with custodial crypto services that will convert crypto payments to fiat before it goes to the recipient if I am not mistaken. I'm not sure if those banks have the capacity to detect those transactions. Maybe they can also ask Visa for details.

Perhaps this is not a very correct opinion - but does it really matter what happens in Nigeria? I am sure that there are much more important problems of a different kind than the availability and legality of cryptocurrencies. Don't you care? Why are you interested in what is happening on another continent where the development is at the level of the 20th century but only with access to the Internet?

Did you not care when China started all those bans? How about in India? Did you not condemn those countries for spreading a negative image about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?

Are you saying this because you are belittling Nigeria? It is in my opinion that Africa needs cryptocurrencies and I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees that. Binance also see potential and the success of crypto adoption in Nigeria will spread throughout the continent. Do you know how big that can be?

[Maslate]

Banks does not want bitcoin, it's a threat for them. Good thing they are only closing the account, not confiscating it.
Since this is coming from regulators, this address the entire nation, so not crypto transactions allowed using our bank account.

Soon they'll realize they are driving away from an opportunity.

I hope they'll not regret it, if they do, they can just reverse the directive.

[Hydrogen]

Do we know if account closures are being enforced? China comes to mind as a nation notorious for making announcements of crypto bans without following through on them.

As an american, sometimes I look @ current events in nigeria and think: nigeria is the future of america. Many policies and decisions appear to first be tested in foreign nations before being brought to north america and the USA. For an example, the defunding of police was a hot issue in great britain around 2-3 years ago. London had 1 police officer for every 250,000 residents and politicians wanted to defund police further. 2-3 years later defunding police became a hot topic in the USA.

[Ziskinberg]

Trust me this is only temporary measure for Nigeria and we can just look at example of country India that had banned and unbanned Bitcoin and crypto several times.
Nigeria will probably add some new law that regulate crypto better and banks will allow crypto transactions again, and what are they going to do when Visa adds cryto...ban Visa also? Let's be serious please
Meanwhile, Nigerians can use p2p trading because nobody can ban that.
 

So what's the use of this temporary measure of banning bitcoin which causes pain and anxiety for the people who are dealing and earning crypto currencies. I am sure that these government wish to ban the crypto and they try every thing they can think of to ban it. But when they see that's impossible to ban crypto, they announce it to unban it. 

Agree, why ban if they can amend the laws and implement it. it might not be the same case with India or other countries that has ban and unbanned crypto, the government of Nigeria might have seen crypto as a threat to their economy or their county as a whole.

I'm trying to read the full story but I could not access the site, same experience with the poster before this post.

[redsun114]

You should expect your accounts to be suspended soon if you've transacted with Binance Nigeria and other exchanges or custodial service using your bank account before. I hope you will find other ways to convert your cryptocurrencies to fiat and vice versa. Are there enough merchants that you can deal with P2P?

Nigeria??? That’s where I least expected this kind of thing to happen. It’s really coming as a surprise to me when I saw the news yesterday that Nigeria’s Central Bank has banned cryptocurrency. This is really bad. I was having this conversation with my friends and we just came to the conclusion their government don’t have any understanding about cryptocurrency and that’s why they have decided to ban it, that’s the normal thing with government, they ban what they don’t understand.

Moreover if you all can remember, around last year Nigerians during the ENDSARS protest were making use of Bitcoin since the government were blocking their banks accounts, so Bitcoin was the only solution. So I guess this might be why their evil government has taken this bad step, to oppress the citizens.

[bits4books]

Perhaps this is not a very correct opinion - but does it really matter what happens in Nigeria? I am sure that there are much more important problems of a different kind than the availability and legality of cryptocurrencies. Don't you care? Why are you interested in what is happening on another continent where the development is at the level of the 20th century but only with access to the Internet?

There maybe many problems in the country but if you discourage the use of crypto in the country, this will lead to further decline of the economy of the country. Nigeria could make crypto legal which can help their country grow but usually the government officials does not recognize this opportunity.

I may not be very smart, of course, but I don't understand the direct and even indirect connection between the growth/decline of a country's economy and use of cryptocurrencies. The economy is based primarily on the number of jobs, international relations, domestic production, and many other factors. And none of these factors is the availability of cryptocurrencies for the population. There is no indirect connection at all.

[bits4books]

Perhaps this is not a very correct opinion - but does it really matter what happens in Nigeria? I am sure that there are much more important problems of a different kind than the availability and legality of cryptocurrencies. Don't you care? Why are you interested in what is happening on another continent where the development is at the level of the 20th century but only with access to the Internet?

Did you not care when China started all those bans? How about in India? Did you not condemn those countries for spreading a negative image about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?

Are you saying this because you are belittling Nigeria? It is in my opinion that Africa needs cryptocurrencies and I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees that. Binance also see potential and the success of crypto adoption in Nigeria will spread throughout the continent. Do you know how big that can be?

You are comparing two countries with a combined population of 2.7 BILLION people with a country that is located in the most unfavorable region of the planet (in political and economic terms) in which 200 million people live, of which 1% knows in general what a cryptocurrency is in principle. Half of the population lives below the poverty line, and 70% works in agriculture. Do you understand that this is not even a country but a real "banana republic" that live in 19 century? I'm not belittling Nigeria I'm just saying that cryptocurrency is generally the last thing that can worry you if you live in Nigeria.

The spread of cryptocurrency in a place where the main problem is survival and what to eat tomorrow and how not to have another (fifth in a month) coup d'etat-this is really something on the level of "If they don't have bread, then let them eat cakes".

[Tstar]

Trust me this is only temporary measure for Nigeria and we can just look at example of country India that had banned and unbanned Bitcoin and crypto several times.
Nigeria will probably add some new law that regulate crypto better and banks will allow crypto transactions again, and what are they going to do when Visa adds cryto...ban Visa also? Let's be serious please
Meanwhile, Nigerians can use p2p trading because nobody can ban that.

Even temporarily, these bans create uncertainty both for the people and the market, so they are not right.

In these coronavirus times, I would feel terrified if I woke up one day and find out that my bank account is banned as I'm buying everything online now.

[Ryker1]

Banks does not want bitcoin, it's a threat for them. Good thing they are only closing the account, not confiscating it.
Since this is coming from regulators, this address the entire nation, so not crypto transactions allowed using our bank account.

Soon they'll realize they are driving away from an opportunity.

I hope they'll not regret it, if they do, they can just reverse the directive.

Well, we dont care if they will not like bitcoin and think that it is a threat to them, it seems this already happen in the country of China. But until now, people keep using bitcoin until they decided to lift in banning of crypto. Even how hard they push to keep banning, even if it will include closing bank accounts. Bitcoin users are wise enough and they can still use crypto without knowing the bank, there are too many alternative ways for that. As I read on the thread that I commented a while ago that Binance supported banning users in Nigeria, but they dont know that people can still use it, does not make any sense.

[CarnagexD]

Not a smart move for that bank, more and more people are using banks to cash in to their cryptocurrency accounts, which means more money for them basically, so doing this automatically puts them at risk of losing a big customer base which they might regret dearly. And as for our friends there at Nigeria, there should be other banks out there that wouldn't do this silly of a tactic, switch to them instead.

[verita1]

Sometimes there are rulers who do not act with sanity as in this case. You are right what the Nigerian government will do when Visa offers bitcoin on its services as recently announced. I think the government has bad advisers, the measures are too rigid by banning bitcoin to Nigerians.

If in the world we are the majority who have not banned Bitcoin, it is because the majority is right. Why are governments as radical as Nigeria?

The 4 reason according to this Nigerian media for not accepting bitcoin. 👇

Cryptocurrency has been banned in Nigeria, China, Bolivia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Morocco and Iran.

https://punchng.com/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-bitcoin-other-cryptocurrencies/

That pride! forgive my discontent. 

[qwertyup23]

It almost feels like a crime to be a common man in a country where the political system is unfair to the citizens as Nigeria. Indians are doing it, Bangladash and now Nigeria has decided to join in. The same Nigeria that not too long ago where looking at ways of incorporating cryptocurrency into the federal reserve and possibly other blockchain technology. Its obvious what a country we are in when we are head by leaders that aren't thinking but depends on peoples opinion, the stakes in it for them and in all that, the common man doesn't have a say.

I find it ironic that these countries that are considered to be 'developing countries' prohibit such opportunity for their citizens to experience and to earn significant amounts of cash. Relatively, these people are the ones who need it the most and the government prohibits such transaction for these cryptocurrencies.

Although I do understand that there are disadvantages of having a decentralized currency with anonymous transactions, the advantages it provides outweighs such. I do thin that the government needs to think its reforms and its priorities for its people. The more they prohibit such opportunity, the more that they are hindering themselves to development.

[Ziskinberg]

It almost feels like a crime to be a common man in a country where the political system is unfair to the citizens as Nigeria. Indians are doing it, Bangladash and now Nigeria has decided to join in. The same Nigeria that not too long ago where looking at ways of incorporating cryptocurrency into the federal reserve and possibly other blockchain technology. Its obvious what a country we are in when we are head by leaders that aren't thinking but depends on peoples opinion, the stakes in it for them and in all that, the common man doesn't have a say.

I find it ironic that these countries that are considered to be 'developing countries' prohibit such opportunity for their citizens to experience and to earn significant amounts of cash. Relatively, these people are the ones who need it the most and the government prohibits such transaction for these cryptocurrencies.

Was it really an opportunity for everyone?

I think it's not, only few are making money in crypto, others are losing money as well.

The issue here is about crypto in general, not on the earning or investing opportunity because in general, crypto is use for payment and that's what should happen if we like a real adoption which results to less manipulation.

[Oilacris]

Not a smart move for that bank, more and more people are using banks to cash in to their cryptocurrency accounts, which means more money for them basically, so doing this automatically puts them at risk of losing a big customer base which they might regret dearly. And as for our friends there at Nigeria, there should be other banks out there that wouldn't do this silly of a tactic, switch to them instead.

Not would really be that a total big loss for banking industry and if we do consider on how banks operate even before cryptocurrency doesnt still exist then it do still involves big money.

Yes, its surely a good add up for banks when people do deal up nor tend to accept those crypto payments but to think that these institutions are heavily regulated

and government are one of the main enemies when it comes to decentralization which it is just simply shows that they will really be abiding on the laws and regulations that had been set.
So it isnt surprising with these kind of conditions.

[poodle63]

Not a smart move for that bank, more and more people are using banks to cash in to their cryptocurrency accounts, which means more money for them basically, so doing this automatically puts them at risk of losing a big customer base which they might regret dearly. And as for our friends there at Nigeria, there should be other banks out there that wouldn't do this silly of a tactic, switch to them instead.

I'm sure the bank won't just that easily close down an account, this kind of strategy is just to scare people away from using cryptocurrency and maybe the amount of account that gets banned within a month just ~1-3 accounts.
Not to mention that people could just easily switch to P2P so that they don't get detected and also might open account in a platform like paypal or such where the banks not gonna detect you unless you cash out directly.

[stompix]

Seems like Binance is acting faster than Nigerian Banks:
https://www.coindesk.com/binance-suspends-deposits-in-nigeria-following-central-bank-directive

The news is one day old but I don't see any serious change in the volume pairs, except for the USDT/NGN, change that for me makes little sense right now, why the dump?
https://www.binance.com/en/trade/USDT_NGN

[Coyster]

Imo I don't think this news will change much for the Nigerian Bitcoin community, from the information I've garnered, withdrawals of crypto funds to naira from centralized exchanges is still working fine as of yet, I know it's prolly a matter of time before most exchanges block Nigerians from using their services, but then the option of P2P trade remains sufficient for crypto users in Nigeria.

The news is pretty surprising cause I don't think the government had previously voiced their dissatisfaction on cryptocurrencies, neither have their been high profile cases of scams coming from Nigeria (correct me if I'm wrong). The Nigerian government prolly have something up their sleeve, being the corrupt/manipulative set that it is.

[Sithara007]

In India, we had a similar "banking ban", which was in place from 2018 to 2020, before it was turned down by the supreme court. The ban prohibited bank accounts being used for cryptocurrency trading. The banks suspended a few bank accounts as a result, but the users simply moved to other alternatives and there was no impact on the market. Anyway these days most of the users are relying on P2P platforms to trade their crypto, and as a result the banks won't be able to easily identify the accounts which are linked to traders.