Nigeria government did not ban bitcoin

[Charles-Tim]

On February 05, 2021, the central bank of Nigeria prohibit any regulated institution dealing with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such institutions accounts were ordered to be closed.



But, Nigerians should still know that bitcoin and other crypto assets are not banned in the country, only the banking aspect of it are restricted.

“As regards our recent policy pronouncement, it is important to clarify that the CBN circular of February 5, 2021 did not place any new restrictions on cryptocurrencies, given that all banks in the country had earlier been forbidden, through CBN’s circular dated January 12, 2017, not to use, hold, trade and/or transact in cryptocurrencies.

So, carrying out p2p is not forbidden or any other thing related to cryptocurrencies like mining remain legal as they are beyond the power of the CBN. What do you people think about this?

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[Red Pie]

Hi Charles.

Nigeria makes the wrong decision on these matters. banking transactions are prohibited. Nobody knows that they will not ban cryptocurrencies completely in the future. This is the part that people worry about. They say if we have a problem like this in the following days? As long as this decision is made, people will constantly have questions in their minds.

[TimeTeller]

Hi Charles.

Nigeria makes the wrong decision on these matters. banking transactions are prohibited. Nobody knows that they will not ban cryptocurrencies completely in the future. This is the part that people worry about. They say if we have a problem like this in the following days? As long as this decision is made, people will constantly have questions in their minds.

And that means, no local crypto-exchange can exist in their country as it will not be approved by their Central Bank.
That's too bad for their crypto users as they will rely on p2p platforms, which hopefully will not be a breeding ground for scammers.
Now, that Tesla is out with their billion investment in bitcoin, hopefully, their government will re-consider about their approach in crypto.
I believe, that there will still be changes on their perspectives towards crypto.

[lifeforcepools]

Why do some governments constantly change their minds about crypto? They ban them, then accept it again?

[avikz]

Lol! Is it anyway better than a blanket ban?? India took a similar step 2 years ago which was eventually taken to the Supreme Court and eventually we got it lifted! But I believe banking ban is as good as a blanket ban because traders will not have any option to cash them out and it's very difficult to use bitcoin as a payment method for your daily purchases!

These kind of ban actually create a lof of confusion and legal loopholes which eventually increase the risk.

[bosede1]

The Circular did not depict that the Nigerian government banning Bitcoin is the trading that is banned for now. I read about the Indian government also banning private cryptocurrency just wished that all this will pass and everything will be back in its place

[sheenshane]

It seems this was still good news for Nigerians that they still able to hold and used cryptocurrencies.  I remember this when China banned cryptocurrencies and suddenly they changed their mind and accept it again and lifted the restriction.  Just because probably they'd realized that Bitcoin is no really harmed or threat to the government because they can treat this as an asset.  But yes, the problem is when it comes to cash them out their assets, it will surely need local centralized exchanges for it.  

For those who didn't know any alternative ways of cashing their money out from exchange without knowing or linking in any banking systems that connected to their government, that's might a problem for now.

I have doubt that time will come they will be lifted this restriction.

[bitbollo]

For what I have seen most of transactions taken place in peer to peer exchange like paxful.  technically this law has not changed anything for the final user, it's pretty true.
however I think this don't seems a good move for their internal financial system.
accepting bitcoin and crypto currencies could just add new services and new way for revenue...help a whole economy!

[AakZaki]

Why do some governments constantly change their minds about crypto? They ban them, then accept it again?

because several governments have their own standards regarding the regulations that will be given to bitcoin. We also already know that bitcoin has high voting and of course it is risky if applied in the banking aspect. There are many pros and cons, but even so Bitcoin is still allowed to be used as commodity trading or in other countries it is allowed as transactions such as FIAT money.

[ecnalubma]

While most governments are crafting flexible regulations for Bitcoin and other crypto’s there are still governments that are very conservative and still uncomfortable handling this technology. Maybe one day time will come that no governments will ban it once they realised the importance of this tech inventions.

[Stedsm]

They did it the same way India restricted its Banks to stop dealing with any person / institutions dealing in crypto, but later Supreme Court lifted the ban and let the Banks start the job again. But this time, it seems like Nigerians are in a big trouble because this will only demotivate people to go digital and use banking services because they're being restricted to use their own money wherever they want to. It's like they are being forced not to adopt crypto and stay away from it, not so good for a country which had lots of customers trading in cryptocurrencies.

[The Cryptovator]

Really it doesn't make sense. Peoples could use bitcoin but they couldn't sell or buy legally. Because if the bank detects any transaction connected with cryptocurrency then they would suspend the bank account. How a bank expecting peoples will only hold cryptocurrency and they will not sell? Rather than use banks, crypto holders will find some illegal way since banks ban crypto. Who knows if after a few days government also announced a ban on cryptocurrencies. Anyway, the decision is confusing and against the trend.

[Hydrogen]

Nigeria's banking industry technology could be old, outdated and obsolete. It could run on legacy hardware and ancient systems literally from decades ago. Nigeria's banking networks could be inferior to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in every way. While some might view these bans as power moves. They could be motivated by desperation, instead.

Banks run a risk of alienating not only their base utilizing BTC. But their normal non crypto using clients as well.

They might have forgotten their success revolves around empowering customers and providing them solutions to problems.

Creating more problems for society, by implementing bans, goes against the grain. Closing doors is a boner killer to business and daily living that the public may not tolerate for long.

[hahay]

I'm not sure about the rules because when there are no banks that accept crypto it means no local exchanges are available, it's like killing slowly. Instead of making confusing rules it seems it would be better to make rules about a full ban, because when a local bank is prohibited from cooperating it basically prohibits any use and / or transaction with bitcoin. But as bitcoin continues to grow, I only hope that the rules will be changed soon, at least bitcoin is safe and legal to trade in that country.

[Travel Standard]

Yes they restricted all crypto holding and trading company from using a direct bank operating system in their platform. It means one can no longer buy crypto with a bank acct from Nigeria except p2p traders .
I heard there are ways you can deposit and withdraw money with REVOLUT. YOU have Revolut in Nigeria???

[Oshosondy]

Anyway, the decision is confusing and against the trend.

The central bank of Nigerian do not know much about cryptocurrencies, they also do not have experienced people that can explain about cryptocurrencies to them. They refered to cryptocurrencies as anonymous, supoorting terrorism and money laundering, while it is very clear that the so called Boko Haram they are dealing with are using fiat to sponsor themselves, the fiat which is hold by the Nigerian banks. When they could not know what cryptocurrencies actually are, they made the bad and wrong decision that will get the country more behind.

[Murpheus]

Anyway, the decision is confusing and against the trend.

The central bank of Nigerian do not know much about cryptocurrencies, they also do not have experienced people that can explain about cryptocurrencies to them. They refered to cryptocurrencies as anonymous, supoorting terrorism and money laundering, while it is very clear that the so called Boko Haram they are dealing with are using fiat to sponsor themselves, the fiat which is hold by the Nigerian banks. When they could not know what cryptocurrencies actually are, they made the bad and wrong decision that will get the country more behind.

Too many unlearned persons are in the place of power,  some of them or rather most of them only found their selves in those position by virtue of connections....
Is that their excuse, for funding terrorisms lmao....
dont be surprised its our very own leaders who are funding it, I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist lemme stop there....

[CarnagexD]

It's a very vague rule if I may say. Like, you can conduct your business with bitcoin and other prominent cryprocurrency in the market on Nigerian Soil, but not conduct business with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Nigeria. If they wouldn't make it clear and easier to undwrstand for people, then they'll have trouble trying to impose this rule on the people.

I'm not sure about the rules because when there are no banks that accept crypto it means no local exchanges are available, it's like killing slowly. Instead of making confusing rules it seems it would be better to make rules about a full ban, because when a local bank is prohibited from cooperating it basically prohibits any use and / or transaction with bitcoin. But as bitcoin continues to grow, I only hope that the rules will be changed soon, at least bitcoin is safe and legal to trade in that country.

Too bad as I see bitcoin helping these countries the most. Now they're trying to cut down a valuable rope. That being said, that's what I have said, make it more concise and simple for people to understand it better.

[Rexler]

And that means, no local crypto-exchange can exist in their country as it will not be approved by their Central Bank.
That's too bad for their crypto users as they will rely on p2p platforms, which hopefully will not be a breeding ground for scammers.
Now, that Tesla is out with their billion investment in bitcoin, hopefully, their government will re-consider about their approach in crypto.
I believe, that there will still be changes on their perspectives towards crypto.

you're right at the moment there's no local exchange working in Nigeria, they had a few local exchange like luno and roqqu and immediately the federal government announced that banks should no longer be involved in any crypto transactions, the local exchange  were all shut down, it's really bad for Nigerians cause now they won't be able to change their crypto to naira smoothly unlike before, I just hope their government will revise this decision soon.

[ReiMomo]

Lol, it seems you are like a king without a kingdom.

How come they allow using cryptocurrencies to their people but they can't be able to withdraw their funds that come from crypto because their government did not support cryptocurrencies on any custodial wallet or centralized local exchange. I guess I have to think that this is just a trap by users if you are coming from Nigeria.

In a legal way of using bitcoin Nigerian will might not able have an option but I think there are too many ways to sell your bitcoin into fiat.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

So, carrying out p2p is not forbidden or any other thing related to cryptocurrencies like mining remain legal as they are beyond the power of the CBN. What do you people think about this?

They only reason why this isn't forbidden is because it can't be forbidden, Peer2peer transaction are above the reach of of the CBN. The only positive outcome of this banned is, it'll increase the patronage of decentralized transaction in the country. Already we're one of the countries with very high p2p volumes, just watch out for what the volume will be in months to come.

Apart from this, there are many negative impact of the news on the nation's bitcoin enthusiast, jobs would hardly favour nigerians now and as we can see we're losing the volume on big exchanges. Nigeria will seize to be a target point for new project, many new comers would find it very frustrating since we know most peer2peer exchange arent as simple as the centralized exchanges are..

The ban was very strategic, the third party service providers would redraw their support for crypto making it very challenging for new investors. Already the prices are soaring locally. They know they can't ban bitcoin so they go after the service providers to frustrate the enthusiast.

[Latviand]

Hi Charles.

Nigeria makes the wrong decision on these matters. banking transactions are prohibited. Nobody knows that they will not ban cryptocurrencies completely in the future. This is the part that people worry about. They say if we have a problem like this in the following days? As long as this decision is made, people will constantly have questions in their minds.

And that means, no local crypto-exchange can exist in their country as it will not be approved by their Central Bank.
That's too bad for their crypto users as they will rely on p2p platforms, which hopefully will not be a breeding ground for scammers.
Now, that Tesla is out with their billion investment in bitcoin, hopefully, their government will re-consider about their approach in crypto.
I believe, that there will still be changes on their perspectives towards crypto.

If that's the case, then probably some investors in Nigeria will migrate in other countries who legalize cryptocurrencies.

And I don't think that Tesla's action will make Nigerian government to also adopt on bitcoin because that's really not a huge thing for them.

Now that bitcoin's price is huge compared before, they are not still making a move to adopt it, they just don't care because they are only focusing on the Central Bank.

[blackened515]

I hope Indian Government take leaf from Nigerian Government's book and instead of bringing law to ban crypto, regulate it.
Eventually they will have to take back the law because btc and crypto is the future.

[cytpoway121]

Why do some governments constantly change their minds about crypto? They ban them, then accept it again?

Literally; it is safe to say that government are inconclusive; some countries are interested in opening up the economy for every individual to try and benefit; while some government will decide to lock up the economy and force centralized investments; banning crypto currency means the country is unhappy they are unable to control funds going in and out of crypto currency; With time , i suppose nations will learn that nothing will stop bitcoin; not the ban nor the threats. Use p2p; trade with trusted pals and never fall for high abnormal rates.

[imstillthebest]

thanks for clearing this issue because i almost believe that Bitcoin in Nigeria was banned again but the previous posters of the news lack of information that result to misslead us readers .
 It's okay if Nigerian government bans the banks that supports Bitcoin because that wasnt important but what important is we can continue trade and invest on Bitcoin wallets and exchanges  .
Who needs bank anyway when you already have your own Bitcoins ?

[Gozie51]

The whole story is that the Nigerian government is coming up with this bad policy to get back at the crypto accounts owners used to transfer money for support of #endsars protesters and this is unfortunate for the economy at large. I believe it will also discourage international investment, now that institutions are waking up to the use of bitcoin in their transaction and payment system.

“As regards our recent policy pronouncement, it is important to clarify that the CBN circular of February 5, 2021 did not place any new restrictions on cryptocurrencies, given that all banks in the country had earlier been forbidden, through CBN’s circular dated January 12, 2017, not to use, hold, trade and/or transact in cryptocurrencies.

You can provide link to the above quote. I can't see it included in the body of the CBN letter on your post.

How come they allow using cryptocurrencies to their people but they can't be able to withdraw their funds that come from crypto because their government did not support cryptocurrencies on any custodial wallet or centralized local exchange.

P2P trading can take care of fiat conversion very fine. You have your naira account or local account, you can exchange crypto coin and make payment with fiat. Is simple to transact.

[rokon1234]

In my opinion, bitcoin should be approved in all countries now.Many countries now do not understand the role of bitcoin, because bitcoin can develop a country's economy.I appreciate the thinking of the Nigerian government and i think day by day all countries government will approve bitcoin.

[Sled]

In my opinion, bitcoin should be approved in all countries now.Many countries now do not understand the role of bitcoin, because bitcoin can develop a country's economy.I appreciate the thinking of the Nigerian government and i think day by day all countries government will approve bitcoin.

Just for you, but somehow not all leaders are thinking just like you. They are more dedicated to fiat money as they live and give protection from it. Establishments, taxes, and any government payable make them live in their position. They are not in control of cryptocurrency and so some country leaders are hating this.

Nevertheless, even some people are benefiting from this but I'll take this as a wrong decision. Nigerian government shouldn't be influenced by some business opportunist owner, they will be supposed to stand and be fair for everybody.

[GeorgeJohn]

From the news everywhere Nigeria government did not ban cryptocurrency in Nigeria, they only restrict all cryptocurrency transactions with Binance and banks in Nigeria and luno can only withdraw but no deposits, but from my perspective the method Nigeria government innate via cryptocurrency is a method to eliminate cryptocurrency in country called Nigeria, because it's obvious that crypto can't be banned totally by any country because it's not what government can control under their care, so emphasising that cryptocurrency has been ban  in Nigeria its a fallacy and propaganda about Nigerians who are desperate to bring down crypto in the country only.

[Lorence.xD]

In my opinion, bitcoin should be approved in all countries now.Many countries now do not understand the role of bitcoin, because bitcoin can develop a country's economy.I appreciate the thinking of the Nigerian government and i think day by day all countries government will approve bitcoin.

That is the end game, but each government has a different stances when it comes to things that they think are good for the state, these debate on whether bitcoin should be banned or allowed is like the debate of some countries to gay marriage, abortion, and divorce. I think if we want the government to accept bitcoin and cryptocurrency, we as the users of it should be ready for a lot of regulations that are going to be unsavory for some of us.

[Charles-Tim]

You can provide link to the above quote. I can't see it included in the body of the CBN letter on your post.

This is the link, I will also include it to the above quote for the authenticity of the post and of this thread generally.

https://punchng.com/cryptocurrencies-breed-illegal-activities-raise-risks-cbn/

[Gozie51]

You can provide link to the above quote. I can't see it included in the body of the CBN letter on your post.

This is the link, I will also include it to the above quote for the authenticity of the post and of this thread generally.

https://punchng.com/cryptocurrencies-breed-illegal-activities-raise-risks-cbn/

Thanks for providing the link. It is not a total ban from that anyway. And thinking about that I didn't know that there was earlier warning to banks 3years ago when I joined this forum but we are still here now and bitcoin still unstoppable, meaning no government can really stop it if their people are already positive about it.

Due to the fact that cryptocurrencies are largely speculative, anonymous and untraceable they are increasingly being used for money laundering, terrorism financing and other criminal activities.

And this is not an excuse because the government embezzle monies in fiat including monies meant for salaries, roads, refinery and crude oil, corruption every government sector.

[Darkbig]

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[Gozie51]

The mining section will be a better board for you on the post. You can easily open a thread on it and make it relevant there. This is the board link https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=14.0

[maybukaspa]

The Nigerian government has been making odd executive decisions. Do they really have the power to ban bitcoin? Would they be able to do it? They can't.  Bitcoin is decentralized and not regulated by any entity. They're not even owned by banks. You can't control the use of cryptocurrency. There are businesses in Nigeria that use cryptocurrency to finance their business if the federal government wants that to happen. How are those businesses going to function? This is really frustrating. Members don't know much about the crypto they need to get educated and informed.

[gabbie2010]

And that means, no local crypto-exchange can exist in their country as it will not be approved by their Central Bank.
That's too bad for their crypto users as they will rely on p2p platforms, which hopefully will not be a breeding ground for scammers.
Now, that Tesla is out with their billion investment in bitcoin, hopefully, their government will re-consider about their approach in crypto.
I believe, that there will still be changes on their perspectives towards crypto.

you're right at the moment there's no local exchange working in Nigeria, they had a few local exchange like luno and roqqu and immediately the federal government announced that banks should no longer be involved in any crypto transactions, the local exchange  were all shut down, it's really bad for Nigerians cause now they won't be able to change their crypto to naira smoothly unlike before, I just hope their government will revise this decision soon.

CBN ban on crypto exchanges will give rise to many P2P transactions however p2p are prone to scamming.getting a trusted and legitimate ones will be difficult because some individuals will use this avenue to defraud unsuspecting traders meanwhile banks must not be aware of such genuine p2p traders if they are caught in the act of transacting cryptos such an account will be outrightly frozen and banned thus many risk involved now for cryptos users in Nigeria.

[iTradeChips]

Looks like this is all very exciting news for Nigerians as they will continue to get and be able to use cryptocurrencies. Some countries might have similarly banned cryptocurrencies in the past but then again, it was only temporary, and it got accepted again and restrictions were lifted. I mean why do they see this as a threat to the financial institutions when it actually helps little people to invest and maybe be able to get good into trading and investments.

[rosebrand]

The Central Bank of Nigeria took a very wrong step in banning crypto and  restricting it's citizens from making crypto transaction with thier bank accounts, well I think it will be just a temporary ban because surely there will get to see the benefits of cryptocurrencies and lift the ban. And also there is still hope for Nigerian citizens to make crypto transactions since there are many p2p exchanges.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

And also there is still hope for Nigerian citizens to make crypto transactions since there are many p2p exchanges.

There's still hope but let not act as if this ban won't be having any effect on the community. The ban will be driving away many potential investors and other services providers and development in the he country. We have been pushed back to the early days of bitcoin transaction in the country where we had to rely on the banks not to fail us by reversing our transaction after transacting with random users we met on these peer2peer platforms.

The ban isn't on bitcoin but the banks, now who controls the finance of the country, the banks off course therefore if you restricted the banks form processing crypto related transaction that means you're also forbidding the third party service providers from doing the same and without this service providers, international exchanges (server providers) can't operate in the country. No difference here if you ask me, the government are just trying to frustrate her citizens into quiting their involvement with the industry.

[Kittygalore]

Why do some governments constantly change their minds about crypto? They ban them, then accept it again?

It might be because they do not have a full control on what is happening in crypto and we all know that governments do not like it when they are not in control of the situation. Take India for example, they have a hot and cold relationship with bitcoin despite having a lot of users in their country. I know that it is said a lot of times but I have to say that the only way for cryptocurrency to coexist with the government is if they accept and go with the flow, make regulations instead of prohibitions that will not be good for the populace and they are missing big time on taxes that they could've taken from those cryptocurrency users.

[posi]

Why do some governments constantly change their minds about crypto? They ban them, then accept it again?

It might be because they do not have a full control on what is happening in crypto and we all know that governments do not like it when they are not in control of the situation. Take India for example, they have a hot and cold relationship with bitcoin despite having a lot of users in their country. I know that it is said a lot of times but I have to say that the only way for cryptocurrency to coexist with the government is if they accept and go with the flow, make regulations instead of prohibitions that will not be good for the populace and they are missing big time on taxes that they could've taken from those cryptocurrency users.

The government believe and thought about crypto currency is really amazed but I don't think their cold/heartless relationship towards crtptocurrency was because they are not in control because all centralized exchange which provided for crypto to fiat implementation KYC/AML automatically the governments are in control of all the activities executed on CEX. I believe the reason behind their coldness against crypto is more of a political ambition (I believe the #End Sar issue trigger the DMB, OFI and NBFI ban on crypto in Nigeria while Indian are using China strategy because of the creation of their CBDC ).

[milani]

On February 05, 2021, the central bank of Nigeria prohibit any regulated institution dealing with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, such institutions accounts were ordered to be closed.



But, Nigerians should still know that bitcoin and other crypto assets are not banned in the country, only the banking aspect of it are restricted.

“As regards our recent policy pronouncement, it is important to clarify that the CBN circular of February 5, 2021 did not place any new restrictions on cryptocurrencies, given that all banks in the country had earlier been forbidden, through CBN’s circular dated January 12, 2017, not to use, hold, trade and/or transact in cryptocurrencies.

So, carrying out p2p is not forbidden or any other thing related to cryptocurrencies like mining remain legal as they are beyond the power of the CBN. What do you people think about this?

This banking aspect paralyze lots of opportunities to crypto users. Even in case you mine that is not forbidden by this regulation, there will be a great problem to use your mined coins, because noone is allowed to accept as the means of payment or you will not able to cash out your assets - exchanges are also not allowed to use. So in Nigeria you may only hold and wait for better times with more suitable situation for cryptocurrencies. In my opinion it will not last forever. Governors change after sone periods, and policy changes aldo with them. Stay positive.

[Becky666]

Why do some governments constantly change their minds about crypto? They ban them, then accept it again?

Due to government ignorance toward new technology they chose to confused themselves in this regards. Nigeria government thought they are wise with their financials but regretted their actions after the banned. The CBN Director of payment made it clear that many misunderstood this memo and they are working on strategies that will exhibit this new technology with the old financial system.

There were rumors that this action of the Federal Government of Nigeria has some reasons behind it; some said that there where money laundering which was likely executed by some strong group in the government, this operation gave them the means to laundered some money abroad, and i quite agreed with this rumors. In the history of Nigeria government, whenever this government want to execute anything bad they tend to create unpleasant atmosphere for citizens to succeed in their acts.

[teosanru]

A similar set of orders was given by the Reserve Bank of India around 3 years ago. It created a lot of panic at that time and people thought the cryptocurrencies are banned in India a few exchanges even had to shut down but a few exchanges figured out a way of P2P fiat dealings to circumvent this ban. Later last year the Supreme court ruled out that the ban was unlawful as transactions of cryptocurrencies do not fall under the purview of the Reserve Bank of India, therefore, it cannot ban any institution from dealing in cryptocurrencies. It's the parliament that frames any law and it's the responsibility of Parliament to create this law too. So Nigerians should not worry In fact a very good case can be fought against the Nigerian Bank on pretty much the same grounds giving Indian judicial announcement as a Precedent.