The bitter reality

[just_Alice]

Yikes! That's a very unfortunate event that's been going on my friend, when government turns into dictatorship, we can only assume that everything good for public will be suppressed and everything that's good for government (the politicians) will be promoted even if it's harmful. It's very sad day for Nigeria, but I guess the government will also try to tackle down P2P transactions if they are going so forcefully, I can just wish and pray for the crypto community in Nigeria and hopefully government understands!

Its the first that we know. Just imagine if you have been trading for years and then suddenly when you send money to your bank account from exchange, your bank decides to freeze your bank account for you have dealt with cryptocurrency. I hope it won't happen anywhere else but we sure could be seeing this is just an experiment in Nigeria whether CBN really could stop BTC. Now its time the community stand together.

Even if they freeze the accounts, legally they can't really hold on the money unless they can prove in court about any illegal activity other than just involvement in crypto I guess. So the issue isn't about money getting stuck, more like a slap for something that was very normal very recently obviously sounds disastrous! I do however feel very optimistic that these moves will eventually be fought and defeated once the community speaks about it louder!

Why can't they? Unless the SEC gets involved and tries to regulate things and comes to terms with CBN, I believe, they're free to do as they wish. In addition, I think the court might press charges against crypto traders in terms of tax dodging and undeclared income.

[goaldigger]

Even if they freeze the accounts, legally they can't really hold on the money unless they can prove in court about any illegal activity other than just involvement in crypto I guess. So the issue isn't about money getting stuck, more like a slap for something that was very normal very recently obviously sounds disastrous! I do however feel very optimistic that these moves will eventually be fought and defeated once the community speaks about it louder!

According to seperate reports; the funds in such blocked accounts are usually issued out as bank drafts that is withdrawalable over the counter; but it is still wrong. The best way out of this situation is to be cautious who we trade p2p with or better still stick to binance and okex p2p

This is too hassle for ordinary people who just want to have a better financial system and a country like Nigeria should really support this one because they are slowly rising, but it looks like their own government are afraid of this big change and no wonder why. Every one of us deserve a better financial system, I hope that this is not the end for Nigerian people to legally use cryptocurrency.

[Genemind]

I feel sorry for your loss. It's sad that some countries are against cryptocurrency and even had to prevent their people have financial freedom. I am just thankful that our country is neutral when it comes to cryptocurrency. I believe that cryptocurrency has a bright future ahead and that some countries are not yet ready to embrace it. The government cannot accept the fact that banks are not really needed. However, banks are controlled by the government, which is not the same case with crypto.

[Kakmakr]

The Nigerians must use their voting power to vote for the government that supports Crypto currencies. I think your current president is Muhammadu Buhari  ....right? Well, he is not making decisions to improve the lives of his citizens. 

Most governments are now realizing that Bitcoin is going global and that a lot of people are losing faith in a currency that are losing it's value. A global adoption of Bitcoin will increase it's value and a more even distribution of the spread of bitcoins will give it more stability. Why would you go against the will of the people... well, you do that because you want to control them and also the value of their wealth. 

Africa can wake up now or miss the boat. 

[slapper]

One of the saddest news in 2021. I can not believe in my eyes that the Nigerian governments are blocking the progression in developing bitcoin and the cryptocurrency ecosystem when it is the second-largest growth crypto market. This will strongly affect not just the youth but anyone who believe bitcoin is their escape

Though, there are various ways to stay connect with the blockchain. Just don't let the cop catch you're doing so.

[Twentyonepaylots]

To say this news is a shocker would be a severe understatement. All along we thought Nigeria will be open and accepting of cryptocurrency given the fact that they are literally the number 1 country in cryptocurrency usage. I hope the government changes their mind for the better and see that cryptocurrency is no enemy, but a valuable ally that everyone should have to be future-proof.

One of the saddest news in 2021. I can not believe in my eyes that the Nigerian governments are blocking the progression in developing bitcoin and the cryptocurrency ecosystem when it is the second-largest growth crypto market. This will strongly affect not just the youth but anyone who believe bitcoin is their escape

Though, there are various ways to stay connect with the blockchain. Just don't let the cop catch you're doing so.

Indeed, they didn't have to crypto trade in obscurity in the past, and now because of this stupid rule, they had no choice but to do so.

[goldade]

Oh....This Nigeria
, you want to bring yourself into retrogression
Nigeria, you don't want to join the crypto progressives

You have left your business of human development but create confusion

in the minds of your subjects.

Nigeria, with Shenanigans in government
The youth only left with promises, told of being the leaders of tomorrow. All
promises in valley rift.

Nigeria, you keep cutting off the promises of tomorrow
You shut the youth off from cryptocurrency, the tomorrow we know

Nigeria, with the second position in the bitcoin market

But you never care for tomorrow
Institutional investors are looking into different crannies to invest but you shutting your windows

The blues of the Nigerian song, is turning into sadness in the faces of the Nigerian crypto enthusiasts
The dreams of the youth, cascading into flowing rivers of oblivion.
Alas... Where lays the hope
The marriage of Nigerian crypto community and P2P is our succour.

This is a perfect example of how a country can be so backward when the whole world is trying to move forward. I have been closely following the Nigerian news for a while now and I have come to realize that the government doesn't care in the least about the welfare of the people especially the youths.
The rate of unemployment is high which led the people to fend for themselves in whatever ways they can find.
Many resorted to internet fraud, which is bad and should be curbed while several others went into cryptocurrencies and trading them which is good and should be encouraged only to find out the government is placing a ban on it

[magneto]

It's a very stupid position for banks/the Nigerian regulators to take.

They are literally shoot themselves in the foot in so many ways:

1. They lose out on a ton of transactions that could potentially be sources of fees/commissions
2. They get a bad rep in the crypto community and lose out on foreign business FDIs
3. They are essentially rejecting any possibility of doing proprietary trading/using BTC as a store of value themselves.

But hey, at least they are refunding the balance.

[nicecrypto]

I am sorry to see this and this kind of stuff just absolutely sickens me. I hate countries trying to hold back its citizens from progression. From what I’ve heard and read, banks can’t be trusted so much there. Cryptocurrencies of course then become such a savior of sorts.

Well you can still buy/sell/trade on a decentralized exchange or over the counter right ?

I suppose he can but the first thing that he needs to do is to recover the money that he had in that account, there have been many examples in the past of people that once their accounts got closed they had lots of trouble to get that money back because now they needed to demonstrate where and how they got it.

What I always find it amusing to say the least is the hypocrisy of those institutions, the bank closed his account for its link with cryptocurrencies and at the end of the email you can see that despite the huge inconveniences that they are causing him they still claim that they will be happy to serve him in the future, which is completely ridiculous, I'm pretty sure that if that happened to me I'll never have an account with that bank ever again and I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone when it comes to that train of thought.

Certainly But the banks too I believe wouldn't want to do this because they know by now how many of the Nigerian population are dealing in cryptocurrencies and how many accounts they will eventually loos in this process and how much finance that translates too but they answer to the CNB/Government and I know if they don't follow order, there's a huge fine for them too. So some how I feel the banks are helpless even though they don't want to go this route. But it is a sad experience.    

[amishmanish]

The bank has given you the option to withdraw all the money in the form of a Draft. So they are not seizing anything. Just refusing to provide services as per instructions from their regulator. Something similar happened in India. Major exchanges pooled together to take up a case in the highest courts. The courts decided in favor of the exchanges in that instant.

Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions to this. All crypto transactions are traceable. All of those hacked cryptos eventually end up in circulation and I don't think it is difficult to connect them. This is the right time for the Nigerian community to showcase the positive effects of crypto for young developers and algo traders. This should be done before the authorities make up their mind and just declare everything wrong based on feedback from their banker friends. The only way is to garner public opinion in favor of crypto.

[michellee]

I feel sorry for your loss. It's sad that some countries are against cryptocurrency and even had to prevent their people have financial freedom. I am just thankful that our country is neutral when it comes to cryptocurrency. I believe that cryptocurrency has a bright future ahead and that some countries are not yet ready to embrace it. The government cannot accept the fact that banks are not really needed. However, banks are controlled by the government, which is not the same case with crypto.

I hope that is only temporary in that country. I hope that the government can research cryptocurrency and what benefits that the government can take. The cryptocurrency can give more opportunity for their people and not just be a new source of income, but it can also be their investment for their future. If the government can realize that, including if they use cryptocurrency, they will have a new reserve for their income. The government does not have to close their bank, and they can still control the bank, but the government gives a new chance for their people to make money from cryptocurrency.

[Shasha80]

Even though I don't live in Nigeria, I consider all crypto users as family. Because for now the crypto community is still a minority, therefore
I am very saddened by what happened to the crypto community in Nigeria. But I believe they can make crypto transactions without going
through the bank. Hopefully what happens in Nigeria is only temporary, because crypto can help to become a source of income for the Nigerian
population. I am sure that eventually the Nigerian government will realize the importance of cryptocurrency for the Nigerian population.
I will always pray for the Nigerian community to be given strength to face these problems.

[so98nn]

Thats the reason why Nigeria will never see a perfect Sunrise because there is none if they kept doing this!
I have always responded to Nigerian case in this fashion only. It doesn't make sense why they are banning it. They will loose big investors in the process and all the money which is associated with the crypto currency might just get pulled out of the banks.

If this amounts to larger portion then banks could see downfall themselves. That's a mistake they have done there. They must influence people of Nigeria to make more developments in the country's crypto infra and bring some jobs, money into the Nigeria.

[Taskford]

Even though I don't live in Nigeria, I consider all crypto users as family. Because for now the crypto community is still a minority, therefore
I am very saddened by what happened to the crypto community in Nigeria. But I believe they can make crypto transactions without going
through the bank. Hopefully what happens in Nigeria is only temporary, because crypto can help to become a source of income for the Nigerian
population. I am sure that eventually the Nigerian government will realize the importance of cryptocurrency for the Nigerian population.
I will always pray for the Nigerian community to be given strength to face these problems.

Don't treat all crypto user as family since there are people who doesn't care about your financial goals also your feelings since there are people only aim for there personal gain so be selective to pick people who can really give a good boost to the whole community and ignore people who contribute toxicity so that you will find better space for long term in this industry.

Also I think the banking system of nigeria see that crypto is a big threat to them since imagine if all citizen will be on crypto they will be demolish and that will be bad to them in financial matters.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

That's so disappointing.  Instead supporting the country to welcome innovations and new knowledge that may be useful to its citizens, they are the obstacle itself to prevent its citizens to success. They are blind in seeing bitcoin as an opportunity to the country and do they not know that it is very beneficial to know these kinds of things? It opens minds of people who are stuck in terms of financial crisis.

[Sled]

That's so disappointing.  Instead supporting the country to welcome innovations and new knowledge that may be useful to its citizens, they are the obstacle itself to prevent its citizens to success. They are blind in seeing bitcoin as an opportunity to the country and do they not know that it is very beneficial to know these kinds of things? It opens minds of people who are stuck in terms of financial crisis.

They don't see any goods towards crypto and never sees its benefits to their netizens but this government official has been posses by their own corrupt minds.
I hope these officials will change their minds and take a look at what will serve good and beneficial to their people. And I hope also that they will know more about Bitcoin, about cryptocurrency, and how this affects and improve the living status of their netizen.

[sana54210]

Don't treat all crypto user as family since there are people who doesn't care about your financial goals also your feelings since there are people only aim for there personal gain so be selective to pick people who can really give a good boost to the whole community and ignore people who contribute toxicity so that you will find better space for long term in this industry.

Also I think the banking system of nigeria see that crypto is a big threat to them since imagine if all citizen will be on crypto they will be demolish and that will be bad to them in financial matters.

Honestly the difference is crypto involves every type of people in the world and that is the difference. For example if you are in a situation where even exchange owners and regular small bounty hunters are in the same crypto world so we can't really say there are same type of people and yes we are not family. How can we be family with CZ who owns probably billions of dollars, and those are huge differences, there are people in between as well too.

However the biggest difference is people who want to see crypto as the money for the whole world and the people who do not care about crypto at all and only care about making profit. There is really nothing that you could change between those people because one could make a billion dollars today in profit and will allow crypto to be destroyed next day never existing, I can't do that, I would rather not make any profit at all if it means crypto will grow super big.

[Yatsan]

It is awful to see an actual email informing a certain individual having connection to cryptocurrency transaction having a closure of account because of the above mentioned reason. It seems like the OP's country is really that strict on implementing its rules and regulations regarding its stand towards cryptocurrency usage. It is really a bitter reality that is hard to be faced by those individuals located on those kind of countries having strict restrictions that once proven and figured out having a connection or doing cryptocurrency transactions will make their account into closure.

[sheenshane]

It's very pathetic and sorry for the loss in our co-crypto enthusiasts who live in that country, as I can say to myself, we're still very lucky to our government and we didn't do the same as them.

But, this isn't the end of the day for all crypto enthusiasts of Nigeria, they can still use cryptocurrencies or Bitcoin through decentralized exchange or even P2P exchanges and move quickly to non-custodial wallets.  Let's see what are those consequences waiting ahead while they are rejecting the good opportunity to becomes a most successful country, even though the most developed country was adopted Bitcoin, how much more to them.

To those who know alternative ways and staying pseudonymous in using Bitcoin, they will not much more worries as of now.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Don't lose hope. From what I've heard, it's only the Central Bank of Nigeria who is against Bitcoin but their SEC is actually willing to adopt cryptocurrency.

I was wondering what the CBN was, not being a Nigerian citizen myself.  So I assume that they control all of the little banks, one of which OP was using to deal with crypto?  That does indeed suck--it sounds like OP will get whatever money he had deposited with his bank back, but hopefully this doesn't mean he'll have to go unbanked for long.  I don't know how available banking is in Nigeria.

Governments want to regulate everything, and it's ridiculous, no matter what reasons they give (money laundering is usually top on their list).  Anyway, don't give up OP.  Find another bank if you can and figure out another way to do crypto transactions.  Best of luck, and you've got my sympathy here as well.