What has Changed Over the 1 Year Period Since Nigeria Banned Bitcoin

An order from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) barring banks from servicing cryptocurrency deals, effectively “prohibiting Bitcoin” in the country, withstands more than 16 months later on, regardless of the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) just recently launching brand-new policies for digital assets and the continued significant adoption and use of Bitcoin in the nation.

How Will The Most Recent Policy In Nigeria Effect Bitcoin?

Last month, the Nigerian SEC launched a set of guidelines focused on governing the issuance, exchange and custody of digital possessions there. These new sets of digital possessions regulations are a follow-up to a September 14, 2020 commitment to work on guideline that would resolve much of the perceived problems with the cryptocurrency market in Nigeria.

The long-awaited regulation was purportedly a transfer to assist using digital assets in the nation. The word “Bitcoin” does not appear in the rules record, and the regulative guide outlines rules that would govern cryptocurrencies beyond BTC, consisting of the issuance of new digital possessions.

However some of the brand-new rules would apply to organizations that probably use Bitcoin services to customers, though they may offer other cryptocurrency services as well. The policy defined entities that qualify as digital property stars to include digital possession offering platforms (DAOPs), digital asset custodians (DACs), virtual assets company (VASPs), and digital possessions exchange (DAX). The SEC even more stated that it would accommodate DAOP operators, so long as they tendered proof of a “minimum paid up capital” of 500 million naira and an existing fidelity bond covering at least 25 percent of the minimum paid-up capital.

The SEC also added that it may reject an application for registration of digital assets if its operation will protest public policy, be harmful to investors, or break any of its laws, rules and policies. The commission even more specified that the rules could be examined from time to time to arrive at the required regulative fluidity of digital properties or security.

While the policy might set the course for a progressive loosening of CBN restrictions, it also raises concerns about the impact it would have when it gains traction, particularly for the growing use of BTC in the nation. An anticipated outcome could be the stifling of bitcoin transactions, including know-your-customer rules and the tracking of deals carried out on exchange platforms. Consequently, this could prevent Bitcoin lovers from using managed cryptocurrency exchanges, as it defies the essence of decentralization and anonymity, which attracts numerous to Bitcoin in the first place.

Bitcoin And The Continued CBN Restriction

It has actually been more than a year given that CBN prohibited financial institutions from helping with cryptocurrency-related transactions and further ordered that accounts serving cryptocurrency operations be shut down. This move came at a time when bitcoin was tape-recording huge price gains, and the nation’s population was relying on it en masse.

The restriction, as the CBN described at the time, did not disallow cryptocurrency-related activity in the country, but rather the involvement of banks in the cryptocurrency market. Many framed this move as CBN’s way of avoiding a systemic failure, should banks start to mess around deeply into the highly-volatile cryptocurrency market.

While the SEC has now satisfied its pledges of presenting regulatory guidelines for the treatment of digital properties, the intro of this brand-new policy does not remove the restriction on banks facilitating cryptocurrency-related deals. This gives insight into the blended responses elicited by a number of market specialists, who have actually believed that the authority of the CBN as the primary financial regulator in the country makes the SEC susceptible to its guidelines and regulations.

In October 2021, Nigeria launched the eNaira, a reserve bank digital currency (CBDC) in a bid to promote the digital use of the naira. While the eNaira runs on blockchain technology, it differs from bitcoin in numerous methods, consisting of the fact that it is not in and of itself a financial property, however rather a digital type of the naira from which it draws its value.

The ongoing restriction from CBN and facilitation of the eNaira suggest that the country’s official stance on Bitcoin is not altering, in spite of its increasing adoption throughout Nigeria.

Bitcoin Has Thrived In Nigeria Regardless Of Regulation

While the ban on banks made it difficult for people and entities alike to assist in cryptocurrency transactions, Bitcoin has grown in Nigeria nonetheless.

Information from Paxful and LocalBitcoins have shown that Nigeria records high peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. Information has actually likewise shown that Nigeria experienced a 15% year-over-year increase in P2P trading of bitcoin after the central bank ban.

Bitcoin Restriction In Nigeria: What Has Changed?

In spite of the bearish state of the bitcoin rate, it has managed to survive and shows many indications of recuperating. This has further stimulated agitations from the Nigerian public for the formal legalization of bitcoin use among the nation’s financial institutions.

With Bitcoin demonstrating itself as a technological innovation that will prosper well into the future, it is possible that the CBN will make a turn-around and raise this restriction on banks in the nation. However, until that is attained, the SEC guideline remains merely a blueprint to attain some sort of regulation and stability in Nigeria’s cryptocurrency space.