Government vs Bitcoin

[Nuel0717]

In general the government had full control but Bitcoin was created and offered freedom from government control, that's why the government disliked the idea at first and tried every means to remove the obstacle stopping them from having access to control amd freeze people's money in Bitcoin.

On the long run, Bitcoin withstood the challenge but the government didn't give up, they deviced different policies including bans but Bitcoin was unshakable, the Nigerian government wasn't left out of those who frustrated their citizens from using Bitcoin and thats my key focus for this topic.

Who else remember the 2021-2023 era when the Nigerian government was very strict with Bitcoin and crypto users? I could remember the authorities searching people's gadgets and arresting them for using Bitcoin but it didn't work out cause citizens mostly the youths who knew the importance of Bitcoin didn't give in to government pressure.

After that, they noticed the fight against Bitcoin was a lost battle but refused to give up and partially embraced it and implemented licensing of exchanges in 2023-2024 era. I could remember several exchanges like Binance,  OKX and few others where affected and left the Nigerian market, it was a blow to Nigerian Bitcoin/Crypto users cause Binance was the leading exchange then in the country, but Nigerian Bitcoiners didn't give up.

Moving forward to today, Bitcoin is still fighting a battle with the government but gaining upper hand cause of mass adoption in the country currently. I guess the next step of the government is to probably implement a Bitcoin/Crypto tax as an asset like some western countries are doing but Bitcoin would still survive against the government in our country cause more people adopting it. You could wonder if Bitcoin and the government would coexist, it's possible although the government still wants full control but Bitcoin offers freedom and self-custody.

Instead of wanting to control Bitcoin they should fully embrace it and educate many citizens towards adoption.However which do you prefer, government control or Bitcoin control? Remember that the bank represents the government and your money is monitored/controlled by them but Bitcoin eliminates third party and allows you to be your own bank, choose wisely.

[TokenTikas]

However which do you prefer, government control or Bitcoin control?

The points you have highlighted from the history of (2021–2022) were really difficult at that time and using bitcoin was very risky because the government looked at it very negatively. But even after all this, the government could not stop bitcoin users in any way, even in the near future, if the government takes any action against bitcoin, it will still not be possible to stop it in any way.

Even through this long journey up to this year, Bitcoin has gone through many bad situations but the users in nigeria have come out from those bad times. Bitcoin is independent, there is no way for the government to interfere here. So in my opinion, it is not possible in any way to completely stop bitcoin or completely control it, but the government should have some control, especially to prevent fraud and money laundering. If users can keep control of their own assets independently, then maybe something positive can be considered.

[SPIDERMAN008]

No matter how much the government tries to control or ban Bitcoin, they will not be able to succeed in doing so, nor have they been able to in the past. I remember the incident you mentioned. In 2021, the government  strict to transactions in crypto. But even then, it could not stop it. I have seen many users I know who were directly transacting with people they knew. They were directly trading BTC from wallet to wallet. So i think government  will not be able to stop it. Since Bitcoin runs on a decentralized system, if someone does not disclose it themselves, they cannot be traced in any way. And the government was in a dilemma about crypto, now I think they can relax and allow it in the future, which is also to their advantage. They will be able to earn a lot through tax. And for a poor country like ours, Bitcoin will be very convenient and beneficial. If the government, together with the people, allows the free use of cryptocurrency. Because our economic situation is bad and our situation is getting worse due to inflation, including the weakness of the Naira. In this regard, the government should look positively at crypto.

[Hypnotizer]

Who else remember the 2021-2023 era when the Nigerian government was very strict with Bitcoin and crypto users? I could remember the authorities searching people's gadgets and arresting them for using Bitcoin but it didn't work out cause citizens mostly the youths who knew the importance of Bitcoin didn't give in to government pressure.

I don’t remember the Nigerian government doing so, for sure during that period they were crackdowns on bitcoin especially from the Central Bank but I’ve never seen or heard of any direct arrest of an individual just because he’s using bitcoin.

Nigerian police do check or search people’s phone or gadgets unlawfully tho but an arrest just because an individual is using bitcoin, I’ve not heard of it and even if it’s happen then it’s just of the interest of the police or security officers to collect something from the individual and not an arrest backed by the Law or government.

Instead of wanting to control Bitcoin they should fully embrace it and educate many citizens towards adoption.However which do you prefer, government control or Bitcoin control? Remember that the bank represents the government and your money is monitored/controlled by them but Bitcoin eliminates third party and allows you to be your own bank, choose wisely.

The government would never like to lose that middleman/third party control over their money and I don’t think they can embrace it atleast not for a country like Nigeria, the IMF wouldn’t allow that and you know Nigeria owe lots of debt to them and they’re still going to borrow. 

You can see even El Salvador wasn’t allow to keep bitcoin as a legal tender when they wanted to borrow from the IMF, they were forced to abolish it..

[Exitoral]

Bitcoin is not fighting the government. All it did was to create an alternative transactional payment giving an alternative to intermediaries payment system. That's all he did. It's aim was not to render the government useless. Bitcoin too is not controlling anybody. All it's doing is giving people opportunity to take their freedom or leave it for those institutions.

Moving further, the government was once fighting a fight they couldn't win against Bitcoin. But that fight is over. They noticed that whatever they did was useless and had to effect on Bitcoin. So what did they do, they adapted. Instead they regulate centralised exchanges that build their businesses around Bitcoin. What they also noticed is that people liked convenience and centralised exchanges offered that to their customers. So it was easy to regulate those exchanges because the exchanges are the once in control of your coins and not the users.

[MainIbem]

Bitcoin is not fighting the government. All it did was to create an alternative transactional payment giving an alternative to intermediaries payment system. That's all he did. It's aim was not to render the government useless. Bitcoin too is not controlling anybody. All it's doing is giving people opportunity to take their freedom or leave it for those institutions.

Moving further, the government was once fighting a fight they couldn't win against Bitcoin. But that fight is over. They noticed that whatever they did was useless and had to effect on Bitcoin.

From the onset the fight has always been against Bitcoin and not Bitcoin against any entity or organisation. Well it gave people a choice to either stick with government control or have control of their money with it and the government isn't okay with that, which is what the OP is talking about. Sometimes i wonder if Bitcoin is an inspiration given to Satoshi by God (our maker) himself cause nothing stands a fight against the government and win but Bitcoin has passed that test.

[Sammye3]

~snip

The government and bitcoin are in no form of competition, because as much as the government still provides value with its law enforcement and use of local currency, bitcoin also exercises its strength without a central authority. They are both independent of each other, bitcoin on the other hand can also be used in Nigeria inspite of government regulations though not being accepted as a legal tender.

You could say that exchanges are more like banks too, when we talk about ownership so it's not about comparison but how you choose to save your bitcoin. If you need complete control over your assets, non custodial wallets are best used because with exchanges there is still a third party to securing your bitcoin.

[Donneski]

In my view, I don't see this as a battle that must be won by either parties. Bitcoin is decentralized so the government can't even succeed in controlling how people use it but they have a duty to fight those who use Bitcoin for fraudulent activities.

One of the primary purposes Satoshi brought the Bitcoin innovation was to remove any need to trust a central authority. Governments should focus more in regulating businesses around Bitcoin so they'll not be used for illicit activities and stop trying to control a network that can't be controlled. There was a time the use of Bitcoin and other crypto activities were restricted in this country, but we saw how people still found means to use it.

[Israelgogo]

Expecting government to take control of Bitcoin is like telling them to make Bitcoin looks as though is one of their slaves and they can impose anything as it's measures and sanctions in case of defaulters, by then just the way we are suffering now, so also Bitcoin control would have suffered in the hands of government, government don't look after resources or assets they destroy and convert it for personal control. Bitcoin is self managed coin not to be control by anyone but each country may put regulations on how it operations and transactions maybe be for the safety of it citizens, even when the government made restrictions on it transactions it was self-centered motions to covet publics coins as excuses for defaulters. Is better without government control. The question is did government have the knowledge of what Bitcoin is, talk less of educating the citizens if the control is in their power.

[Rgram]

Who else remember the 2021-2023 era when the Nigerian government was very strict with Bitcoin and crypto users? I could remember the authorities searching people's gadgets and arresting them for using Bitcoin but it didn't work out cause citizens mostly the youths who knew the importance of Bitcoin didn't give in to government pressure.

After that, they noticed the fight against Bitcoin was a lost battle but refused to give up and partially embraced it and implemented licensing of exchanges in 2023-2024 era. I could remember several exchanges like Binance,  OKX and few others where affected and left the Nigerian market, it was a blow to Nigerian Bitcoin/Crypto users cause Binance was the leading exchange then in the country, but Nigerian Bitcoiners didn't give up.

I don’t recall any radical move by the government to go into people’s phones. What happened was, the CBN placed a ban on using its commercial bank facilities in trading Bitcoin and other crypto assets, should they manage trace the dots and make crypto related activity connections, your account gets blocked.

The issue of scams that was long associated with the currency created another market for rogued agents in the forces. These were the people who took advantage of the misinformation and wrong narrative to go into the phones and devices of citizens without probable cause just to witch hunt.

The ignorant ones fell victim but, when you are well aware and sure of the legitimacy of what you’ve got, then you can always tread careful and not be get used.

[Mate2237]

In general the government had full control but Bitcoin was created and offered freedom from government control, that's why the government disliked the idea at first and tried every means to remove the obstacle stopping them from having access to control amd freeze people's money in Bitcoin.

On the long run, Bitcoin withstood the challenge but the government didn't give up, they deviced different policies including bans but Bitcoin was unshakable, the Nigerian government wasn't left out of those who frustrated their citizens from using Bitcoin and thats my key focus for this topic.

Who else remember the 2021-2023 era when the Nigerian government was very strict with Bitcoin and crypto users? I could remember the authorities searching people's gadgets and arresting them for using Bitcoin but it didn't work out cause citizens mostly the youths who knew the importance of Bitcoin didn't give in to government pressure.

What you should know was that when Bitcoin started few years ago, and adoption rate started to increase most government all over the world did not understand what Bitcoin was or simply put it they misunderstan what the concept of crypto currency. That was why governments all over the world were doing everything possible to make sure that they frustrates Bitcoin and it users , hence government came up with policies that were anti crypto currency. I could still remember some times ago under President Buhari there was alot of deliberate efforts taken by the government to make sure that the use of crypto currency in the country was frustrated. I can still remember that the bank accounts of those who were linked to Bitcoin where closed down, all these boils down to the fact that the government of the day was ignorant of the reality what what crypto currency was.


Today we can't say that of Bitcoin and crypto currency as a whole. All over the world we are seeing news about different government trying to bring in Bitcoin into their economy by legalizing crypto currency. This is because government has come to the realization that they were wrong. Crypto currency has won even here in Nigeria we just saw the news of President Bola Tinubu signing of executive order for the harmonization of crypto and virtual assets some few days ago. This is a victory for crypto because they have come to the truth about crypto currency, I don't think that government still has an issue with crypto in the country again with these types of moves from government.