Nigerian Crypto Stakeholder Body and Politicians Join Forces to Quell CBN Crypto Ban

Teaser; Since the latest directive laid down by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), crypto bodies, investors, and traders have been heavily affected, Therefore, the Nigerian Senate and major Crypto body, BICCON pit efforts in addressing the CBN crypto ban.

Major Updates

• Nigerian crypto body refers to the crypto ban as a “mere reiteration.”
• Nigerian senators are against the latest CBN crypto policies except for one Sani Musa.
• Strange activities within two corporate Crypto accounts leaves them void of digital assets following the crypto ban.
• BICCON emphasizes legislatoral challenges to be faced by CBN as crypto activities are yet to be criminalized.

Well-known Nigerian crypto body, Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria (BICCON), refers to the latest CBN directive as a “mere reiteration.” They explained regarding the initial announcements made back in 2017, which was when CBN first made statements against the use of Crypto, although no policies or actions were at the time.

BICCON further criticizes CBN for carrying out the ban without first properly announcing it to the public beforehand. CBN carried out the directives without “any adequate notice or order of any court of competent jurisdiction.”

BICCON even explained how the hasty decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria heavily affected many individuals and businesses that held a significant amount of crypto. One instance is that ever since the ban on Friday, February 5th BICCON has reported that amongst the closed crypto accounts, something peculiar occurred with two corporate accounts. These particular accounts had all their assets wiped out before they were shut down.

Furthermore, BICCON explains a legislature loophole regarding the lack of official laws indicating that crypto activities were a criminal offense.

While BICCON expresses opposition to the new crypto policies, some of the Nigerian senators do the same. The Nigerian senate reportedly wants the CBN body to shed more light on the hasty directives. They want the what, who, why, and how concerning the crypto ban.

As a matter of fact, the governor, Godwin Emefiele, is set to appear before the legislative arm.

So far, only one member of the senate is outwardly supporting CBN’s decision— Sani Musa. He has publicized his reason being that the cryptocurrencies have made the Nigerian naira “almost useless.”

Finally, BICCON Further explains the adverse effects that come with the new CBN policies in the long run if they are not “reviewed or revised.” They went further to emphasize the fact that Nigeria is the largest cryptocurrency market in Africa.

So, banning crypto trading will result in the “death of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria, particularly indigenous cryptocurrency exchanges which should be getting regulatory support to become globally competitive.”