It was a rude shock to me when I read the announcement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the banning of cryptocurrency in February 2021. This caused panic amongst crypto users and enthusiasts, to the point that companies were forced to shut down as the apex bank and its allies were clamping down on some accounts with little to no warning. This subsequently generated some debates for clarity, which made the CBN clarify that Nigerians could own and operate with cryptocurrencies, but can't deal with Nigerian banks with its transactions. Initially, I must say that I panicked, thankfully, the P2P system saved the day, and it's still doing it perfectly well.
Now, what surprises me are the recent events unfolding barely a year after the announcement, to the point that the so-called ban looks like a
mirage. Those companies that shut down in the wake of the announcement are coming back, while many more are even joining to make the matter even more surprising.
Those that are conversant with Binance, for example, could testify that it rushed to stop the local deposit and withdraw at that time. But now, Binance is again operating the same service under 'Cashlink.' This is one among multiple others to save us time.
While the last of the surprises was the desperation of Paybis in breaking back into the Nigerian crypto market, a Scottish company that does not have a known address in Nigeria now offers a deposit into Nigerian banks in an exchange for cryptocurrencies. This was what the so-called CBN claimed to have targeted by their ban, but it's now obvious that it's more dominant in the banking system and now only targets the commoners.
Maybe the ban is now for the poor masses or some small companies, who knows? Regardless, the crypto masses will win, at last. I hope the fight for cryptocurrency by Rep/Senate sees the light of day.