In today’s edition: CBN vs Crypto
Elon Musk
NIN versus BVN
Insights
CBN VERSUS CRYPTO
Last Friday afternoon, Nigeria’s central bank dropped a five-page press release that called for banks and other financial institutions to close the accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. In the circular, the CBN denounced digital currencies as, “a method of encrypting and hiding codes that prevent oversight, accountability, and regulation.” In short, all financial institutions are required, by law, to close any accounts transacting or operating on cryptocurrency exchanges. Nigerian Twitter, especially the crypto and fintech companies, went into meltdown, which sparked immediate action by some of the main players to mitigate any fallout and consumer concerns. Bamboo, Luno, Flutterwave, Trove and others rushed to communicate next steps with their customers – bringing transparency and clear lines of communication amidst the fallout. Read: Access Bank, GTBank begin closing customer accounts that have traded cryptocurrency Whilst the timing of the assault on Nigeria’s crypto community was a surprise for all, the fact that Nigeria is the second-largest bitcoin market in the world and that the CBN hasn’t fully grasped the scope, opportunity, or regulatory requirements needed for the cryptocurrency, the move itself to essentially ban it, isn’t so surprising. And as necessity is the birth of invention, within five days of the CBN’s edict, Binance announced that it has launched a Peer to Peer market for Nigerian crypto traders while Buycoins also announced that deposts and withdrawals were available again for customers. Read: Mastercard will let merchants accept payments in crypto this year PARTNER CONTENT
Discover unique, thoughtful gifts made with from Paystack creators in Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. Paystack.com/giftguide Tesla Buys Bitcoin
Staying with digital currencies, and with almost near perfect serendipitous timing, just two days after the CBN decried its use, this week saw Bitcoin jump by almost 20% at one point, thanks to some timely tweets from Tesla’s Elon Musk and the subsequent announcement that his car company had purchased $1.5Bn worth of Bitcoin. Oh – and he’s also pushing the price of Doge up too , Lion-king style. It will be interesting to see how regulators such as the SEC in the US will stomach such activity . PARTNER CONTENT
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