Crypto market too big to ignore, says Nigeria SEC

[Charles-Tim]

I believe crypto will only very soon be regulated in Nigeria as SEC are in full support while CBN is accepting it to be regulated in the country.

According to a report by Premium Times, both the SEC and the Central Bank of Nigeria will work collaboratively on devising a concrete regulatory framework for cryptos in Nigeria. Speaking at a virtual conference organized by the Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria in the capital, Abuja on Sunday, Agama remarked:

“Part of the desire of the SEC even in the future is to provide a regulatory framework that will take care of all these challenges that we have seen internationally and the entire world is grappling with in terms of cryptocurrency and digital assets. For us at SEC and capital market, it is something to look at, the world cannot be moving forward and we will be static, no.”

However, most crypto transactions are pseudonymous at best. Blockchain intelligence firms like CipherTrace and Chainalysis have created tools that allow for robust cryptocurrency forensic investigation.

Also, crypto exchanges in Nigeria were adhering to Know Your Customer best practices which included the bank verification number, or BVN, authentication. As part of the address during the ACMAN lecture, Amugo revealed that the CBN and SEC were working with other Federal agencies to develop a national regulatory approach to cryptos in Nigeria. During the event, several stakeholders called on regulators to pursue more nuanced laws rather than outright bans.

Although, Nigerians has gone p2p as the perfect alternative which is even better.

[BrewMaster]

that's the problem with governments that do weird things about bitcoin that is against what the rest of the world is doing and against what people like. it forces people to go off the market and do more P2P trades that the government can not ever have any control over and worst of all is that they can never take back that control they lost in first place.
P2P trading is not as popular as going to a centralized exchange in countries that have accepted bitcoin and their government has more control over the market and what people do!

[Fundamentals Of]

I was a little confused with Nigeria. Was it that the country banned crypto because it was getting too big to ignore? If I can remember it right, crypto trades surpass that of stock trades in the country. The leaders must have somehow realized they need to somehow put a halt on its legalization, temporarily at least, pending a new set of regulations to properly confront its rise.

[suzanne5223]

I totally love the Nigerian SEC stance towards cryptocurrency and I like the statement of "the world cannot be moving forward and we will be static" since the whole is changing to crypto for Nigeria to be among the most country with good crypto traffic the CBN previous ban will affect a lot of crypto user in Nigeria.
But I don't understand is their plan to regulate crypto which is not possible and they can only regulate exchange activities and the last I check 97% of all centralized crypto to fiat exchange offer KYC.

[DdmrDdmr]

Earlier today, I read that Nigeria currently had a Premium on bitcoin of over 51% according to http://www.bitcoinpricemap.com/. Not sure exactly how they derive that information, nor if the information is accurate (theoretically derived from local exchanges) or subject to an idiosyncrasy which is unparalleled in other countries, but for whatever reason, bitcoin seems to be trading there at 83K$ right now, which is ballistic.

In light of the above, are those numbers seemingly accurate? And if so, do people try to circumvent local exchanges, and try to use other international platforms for purchase?

See also: https://ambcrypto.com/bitcoin-sells-for-85k-in-nigeria-as-premium-shoots-up/

[avikz]

Oh Wait! Crypto is soon to be regulated in Nigeria??

As far as I know, cryptocurrency is already banned in Nigeria since beginning of February 2021 as per the circular issued by NCB on 7 February 2021. Correct me if I am wrong here! So it's really surprising that Nigerian SEC has issued such statement which is somewhat contradicting with the viewpoint of NCB. Not sure if SEC is planning to overrule the ban of NCB and want to suggest regulation instead.

Because a ban will always be bypassed with p2p trading. It will be similar to finding a needle in a haystack and government will keep on loosing its potential tax revenue!  

[cytpoway121]

At this rate i feel like the Nigeria SEC is trying to do the right thing after messing up; but i feel it is a lost battle already; because with established peer 2 peer options on Okex, Binance, Roqqu etal. Do you see binance allowing direct deposits and withdrawals once again ?

I feel like government decided to retrace their steps after noticing drop in taxes due to the ban on banks from facilitating crypto currency transactions; so my question is would the government maintain their stance to allow crypto transactions even if binance refusing to use a Nigerian bank account like before ?

[Bitstar_coin]

that's the problem with governments that do weird things about bitcoin that is against what the rest of the world is doing and against what people like. it forces people to go off the market and do more P2P trades that the government can not ever have any control over and worst of all is that they can never take back that control they lost in first place.
P2P trading is not as popular as going to a centralized exchange in countries that have accepted bitcoin and their government has more control over the market and what people do!

Yeah as a result of this immature behaviour of the Nigerian government they have open a more profitable market for p2p platforms,  I believe those who are involved in crypto in Nigeria will result to using p2p and ignore any further action from the government,  they have lost control and a big chance to generate revenue for the government purse, sad  they could not see the bigger picture.

[Charles-Tim]

In light of the above, are those numbers seemingly accurate? And if so, do people try to circumvent local exchanges, and try to use other international platforms for purchase?

I also read on cointelegraph last week that Bitcoin is selling at premium in Nigeria, but I do not think this data are correct, I checked nairaex.com immediately at the time and see bitcoin selling at normal price. If bitcoin is selling at such high amount, p2p which its price is controlled buy buyers and sellers, bitcoin would have been selling at such high price too. On binance p2p, paxful, Remitano, and some other exchanges commonly used by Nigerians, Bitcoin is selling at normal price also. Where the data was gotten from, I do not know, but I doubt if it is correct. But, according to all the prices I have seen on exchanges and our p2p, it is totally wrong.

As far as I know, cryptocurrency is already banned in Nigeria since beginning of February 2021 as per the circular issued by NCB on 7 February 2021. Correct me if I am wrong here! So it's really surprising that Nigerian SEC has issued such statement which is somewhat contradicting with the viewpoint of NCB. Not sure if SEC is planning to overrule the ban of NCB and want to suggest regulation instead.

SEC are more in charge of crypto related matters, probably they might have been convincing CBN what they are getting wrongely. Like CBN saying cryptocurrencies trasactions are anonymous, is that true. CBN information on cryptocurrencies are almost wrong, in which the SEC have more information that are true which have been making them to embrace cryptocurrencies.

so my question is would the government maintain their stance to allow crypto transactions even if binance refusing to use a Nigerian bank account like before ?

You mean if CBN has revoked the crypto ban law? Binance only suspended Naira deposit and withdrawal, I am very sure all exchanges that have disabled Naira deposit and withdrawal will enable it back if CBN lift off the crypto ban.

[Coyster]

I think that the CBN and SEC have had a rethink on the earlier sanction that was imposed on crypto, basically they should be in the know that just stopping Nigerians from using exchanges doesn't mean an outright ban on the coin, as P2p trades will still go on unhindered, I don't know if the Nigerian government is only trying to create attention to themselves with all these news about Nigeria and crypto for the past two weeks now. How things are at the moment, it seems the ban will be lifted and replaced with some more regulations, which ironically have already existed prior to all this furore, as exchanges have always requested for KYC from their customers, and that's as far as the Nigerian government can go for now.

SEC are more in charge of crypto related matters, probably they might have been convincing CBN what they are getting wrongely. Like CBN saying cryptocurrencies trasactions are anonymous, is that true. CBN information on cryptocurrencies are almost wrong, in which the SEC have more information that are true which have been making them to embrace cryptocurrencies

Isn't that the more reason why the Nigerian government and the CBN ought to have consulted with the SEC before issuing the earlier sanction, imo, Nigeria as a country has bigger problems than worrying about crypto usage, the economy and the Nigerian naira is in a pretty bad state, they should stop firing at the wrong target.

[20kevin20]

that's the problem with governments that do weird things about bitcoin that is against what the rest of the world is doing and against what people like. it forces people to go off the market and do more P2P trades that the government can not ever have any control over and worst of all is that they can never take back that control they lost in first place.
P2P trading is not as popular as going to a centralized exchange in countries that have accepted bitcoin and their government has more control over the market and what people do!

Not sure if it's better to be happy or sad about having a government that allows you to use cryptocurrencies if one of the main reasons they allow it is 'cause they can have control over it, lol. But I think the number of people going off-grid and using BTC the P2P way is way smaller than those obeying the laws anyway. Whether it's a ban or strict regulations, I still think the balance is in their favor.

Smaller countries don't have the tech and experts (or the salaries for them) that big countries do though. If the US can afford paying big money for intelligent algorithms that automatically extract data from crypto blocks, smaller countries would rather just become hostile against BTC instead.

[Wenbing]

Although, Nigerians has gone p2p as the perfect alternative which is even better.

The banning of crypto exchange affects the government and the deposit money banks negatively. You see, commercial banks have been earning revenue from two crypto sources; 1. when a retail trader deposit fiat to his account in an exchange. 2. the banks also earn money from managing the fiat of exchanges. the Government earn from the banks and exchanges n terms of tax payment.

So, this has been cut-off. Yesterday, i bought some coins using p2p, there was no need to pay charges for sending fiat to exchange.

that's the problem with governments that do weird things about bitcoin that is against what the rest of the world is doing and against what people like. it forces people to go off the market and do more P2P trades that the government can not ever have any control over and worst of all is that they can never take back that control they lost in first place.
P2P trading is not as popular as going to a centralized exchange in countries that have accepted bitcoin and their government has more control over the market and what people do!

I see the government of Nigeria has thrown away the bath water and the bathing tub, so bad. prior to the ban, i deposited fiat from my bank account directly to my Binance account, now that it was ban, even after the lifting of the ban , it would be very hard for Nigerians to use banks as a channel of deposit to buy or sell coin.

This is the birth of the crypto black market, the same way the dollar black market was created. I wish they thought it well before giving the order.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

[Charles-Tim]

So, this has been cut-off. Yesterday, i bought some coins using p2p, there was no need to pay charges for sending fiat to exchange.

Not only that, let me explained this in more details.

First, p2p comes with different prices, you will see people that even want to buy bitcoin for slightly higher price than direct bank withdrawal.
Second, banks do charge for transferring into bank account.
Third, if exchanging bitcoin to naira, all the exchnges do charge another fee.

P2p are just the best, but only just wish the country to support bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies which will help in crypto asset adoption. Also, because of fraud cases some people have heard about p2p, they prefer to use bank directly. Also, if big organizations will want to start dealing with bitcoin and other crypto assets, they will prefer bank deposit and withdrawal as the standard.

[Upgrade00]

The Nigerian government have been making hasty decisions as regards Bitcoin, most of which were ill advised as they seem to have done very little research on it. The recent ban on cryptocurrency trades showed that the network is truly decentralized and it can operate without the approval or mediation of centralized authorities, which would goes to show that the government has little or no influence over it.

Also, because of fraud cases some people have heard about p2p, they prefer to use bank directly. Also, if big organizations will want to start dealing with bitcoin and other crypto assets, they will prefer bank deposit and withdrawal as the standard.

On accounts of frauds, P2P can be done over decentralized networks which would serve as escrows to protect both parties. I however doubt there is enough liquidity on such platforms to support large purchases. Although, centralized platforms also has P2P options which could suffice for much larger trades.

[aoluain]

P2P is what the average person will use to buy Bitcoin when there is regulation in the country
but large scale investors, companies and corporations wont use P2P, they want regulation so
they know what taxes or penalties they might incur on their investments, they want a form of
green light from a government.

[ololajulo]

I totally love the Nigerian SEC stance towards cryptocurrency and I like the statement of "the world cannot be moving forward and we will be static" since the whole is changing to crypto for Nigeria to be among the most country with good crypto traffic the CBN previous ban will affect a lot of crypto user in Nigeria.
But I don't understand is their plan to regulate crypto which is not possible and they can only regulate exchange activities and the last I check 97% of all centralized crypto to fiat exchange offer KYC.

I just hope the foreign companies that offer services of trade in the country like Binance dont get too much into the politicking of oppression that the Government is playing. I was expecting a demand for tax payment but at the moment the deregulation has not mentioned that, this is a country where every tax paying countrymen are not happy with what Government does or did not with it. It only looks like siphoning the populace to enrich their pockets.

[Charles-Tim]

On accounts of frauds, P2P can be done over decentralized networks which would serve as escrows to protect both parties. I however doubt there is enough liquidity on such platforms to support large purchases. Although, centralized platforms also has P2P options which could suffice for much larger trades.

Yes, you are completely right. The eswrow will be provided by the exchange, in which no one can be able to cheat. But, we need more knowledge about p2p, some people are yet being scammed in such a way the exchange that provide escrow service can not be blamed. Some newbies can depend on text message from bank, and this has been used to scam many people in the past through fake text massages that resembles bank message but from scammers. What I usually do is to login into my bank account at that time and see the money sent into my account truly. You know how people can be dubious with different scam tactics, some newbies can still fall for such simple to avoid scam.

[sunsilk]

Well, when there's already a noticeable growth for crypto, SEC and other government sectors can't just ignore it anymore. I guess most countries will have to deal with government's action of regulating it. There's no other choice but to accept that although, it won't stop the trades that happens through P2P.

Earlier today, I read that Nigeria currently had a Premium on bitcoin of over 51% according to http://www.bitcoinpricemap.com/. Not sure exactly how they derive that information, nor if the information is accurate (theoretically derived from local exchanges) or subject to an idiosyncrasy which is unparalleled in other countries, but for whatever reason, bitcoin seems to be trading there at 83K$ right now, which is ballistic.

I'm not sure of it as well because in some other articles that I've read, they say that it's a 36% premium.

[bittraffic]

Their people would be comfortable in making p2p if they are not going to fix what the government had done. It's making a revolution in this country. SEC is actually making sense here and I hope the rest of the world will follow after all the crypto market is too big right now and it's going to become bigger when SEC of each country makes laws and accepts the way Nigerian SEC does.

[Charles-Tim]

I'm not sure of it as well because in some other articles that I've read, they say that it's a 36% premium.

I have made a little comment about this in a post above, we do not know where the data is gotten from, but according to p2p exchanges we are using in Nigeria, that data is not correct. We buy and sell Bitcoin just like the normal price, but you know in p2p market, there are many buyers and sellers with different prices, you will only see some with slightly higher prices and slightly lower prices as it is just on exchanges. Some news are not just right but wrong because I have not noticed this in Nigeria.

[sunsilk]

I'm not sure of it as well because in some other articles that I've read, they say that it's a 36% premium.

I have made a little comment about this in a post above, we do not know where the data is gotten from, but according to p2p exchanges we are using in Nigeria, that data is not correct. We buy and sell Bitcoin just like the normal price, but you know in p2p market, there are many buyers and sellers with different prices, you will only see some with slightly higher prices and slightly lower prices as it is just on exchanges. Some news are not just right but wrong because I have not noticed this in Nigeria.

Yeah, in P2P markets, adjustments in prices and could put premium in their prices but those inaccuracy in data is everywhere.

I wish that news publications will be more accurate with the data that they publish or, at least take a validation before posting it for their readers to know that they're reliable with such data.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

In light of the above, are those numbers seemingly accurate? And if so, do people try to circumvent local exchanges, and try to use other international platforms for purchase?

I think I have some idea on how this figures are coming out. When you crossed check the official price of Bitcoin and dollar conversion rate then use it to compared with that of the peer2peer market that's currently booming in the country then you can say bitcoin are been sold costly in the country. While the official price of dollars is around the 380 Naira price range, that of the cryptocurency industry is within the price range of N480 to N550.

With such high dollars exchange rate, we're buying at least 27% higher than what the international exchanges are selling providing we can get dollars with in the official CBN dollars exchange rate although that's not the case as neither the banks or black market are selling at the official price, they have their profits inputted and it skyrocket the exchange rate.

[Charles-Tim]

With such high dollars exchange rate, we're buying at least 27% higher than what the international exchanges are selling providing we can get dollars with in the official CBN dollars exchange rate although that's not the case as neither the banks or black market are selling at the official price, they have their profits inputted and it skyrocket the exchange rate.

Thanks for pointing this out, exactly what happened. But, immediately after CBN banned crypto, there were false news all around that is misleading people into thinking the price of bitcoin increased in Nigeria and selling at higher price of which it is false.

In the wake of the recent ban on Nigerian banks' servicing of crypto exchanges, Bitcoin's price in the country has seemingly spun out of control.

Even, before the crypto ban, this is how bitcoin is sold while the CBN exchange rate for US dollar is not what crypto exchanges are using in Nigeria, crypto exchange price is even $100 higher. And if CBN legalized crypto in Nigeria back, nothing is going to change because it has been like that right from the beginning.

[Cryptopadi]

The fact that cocaine is harmful does not mean that it does not have it's good sides as it is an excellent anesthetic and vasoconstricting agent used as part of the treatment of a patient by a physician. The fact that fraudsters are using cryptocurrency to carry out illicit activities is not enough reason for the government to ban cryptocurrency in Nigeria. In someone's view..... the government could not clamped down on ENDSARS promoters and sponsors since majority of the donations were in BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH etc. so banning cryptocurrency was a way of averting such occurrence in the future. But let's not forget that in a country like Nigeria where you fight for everything. some youth (job seekers) have turned to crypto trading as a legitimate source of livelihood and they have been making it big time. The world is indeed changing and Nigeria cannot afford to be static. Whether the government retrace it steps and change it's stand on the issue, cryptocurrency is here to stay.

[Mpamaegbu]

As far as I know, cryptocurrency is already banned in Nigeria since beginning of February 2021 as per the circular issued by NCB on 7 February 2021. Correct me if I am wrong here!

The directive to ban cryptocurrency in Nigeria actually came from the country's apex bank — Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), not NCB (whatever that stands for). Dateline was February 5, 2021.

[BrewMaster]

that's the problem with governments that do weird things about bitcoin that is against what the rest of the world is doing and against what people like. it forces people to go off the market and do more P2P trades that the government can not ever have any control over and worst of all is that they can never take back that control they lost in first place.
P2P trading is not as popular as going to a centralized exchange in countries that have accepted bitcoin and their government has more control over the market and what people do!

Not sure if it's better to be happy or sad about having a government that allows you to use cryptocurrencies if one of the main reasons they allow it is 'cause they can have control over it, lol. But I think the number of people going off-grid and using BTC the P2P way is way smaller than those obeying the laws anyway. Whether it's a ban or strict regulations, I still think the balance is in their favor.

Smaller countries don't have the tech and experts (or the salaries for them) that big countries do though. If the US can afford paying big money for intelligent algorithms that automatically extract data from crypto blocks, smaller countries would rather just become hostile against BTC instead.

i think in the end this can be a good thing. we know that government regulation is not something we can deny and it will all happen sooner or later. but the sooner some governments realize that they can not prevent the bitcoin adoption from happening the faster we are going to see the eased up regulations which is so much better than the government resisting bitcoin for years and slowing down the adoption.

[suzanne5223]

I totally love the Nigerian SEC stance towards cryptocurrency and I like the statement of "the world cannot be moving forward and we will be static" since the whole is changing to crypto for Nigeria to be among the most country with good crypto traffic the CBN previous ban will affect a lot of crypto user in Nigeria.
But I don't understand is their plan to regulate crypto which is not possible and they can only regulate exchange activities and the last I check 97% of all centralized crypto to fiat exchange offer KYC.

I just hope the foreign companies that offer services of trade in the country like Binance dont get too much into the politicking of oppression that the Government is playing. I was expecting a demand for tax payment but at the moment the deregulation has not mentioned that, this is a country where every tax paying countrymen are not happy with what Government does or did not with it. It only looks like siphoning the populace to enrich their pockets.

I don't believe Binance won't be oppressed by the Nigerian government political oppression cause this is not the first time they have witnessed such thing but I expect Cz to submit to their rules and regulation if they later demand for tax payment by cryptocurrency user and how they use the tax is none of his concern.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I don't believe Binance won't be oppressed by the Nigerian government political oppression cause this is not the first time they have witnessed such thing but I expect Cz to submit to their rules and regulation if they later demand for tax payment by cryptocurrency user and how they use the tax is none of his concern.

If preventing tax evasion was their main motive, then I am afraid that they are moving in the wrong direction. Mainstream exchanges such as Binance has made KYC mandatory. They regularly provide information to the governments about the volume of cryptocurrency trade being conducted by their citizens. Now the government has closed down all the mainstream exchanges and therefore the users have moved to P2P platforms where there is no KYC. P2P platforms can't provide such information to the government, because they don't have access to that sort of data. The trade is being conducted between two individuals, and the platform can intervene only in case of disputes.