Nigerian Central Bank Bans Bitcoin, Social Media Blasts Move

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It was always clear that at a certain point, some central bankers in developing countries would try and ban Bitcoin altogether. This is because a decentralized currency cannot be controlled and the more trading and exchanging which would be done in crypto would mean that the authorities of such a nation would slowly lose control over what they crave most: the flow of money.

This is not a good approach from my own point of view. Instead the government should formulate a win-win regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other blockchain related markets #Nigeria #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/YK3dZkA2z0

— Tosin Badeniyi,Ph.D (@tosynolu) February 5, 2021

In a letter published on it’s website yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) informed all banks that they needed to close accounts transacting with cryptocurrencies.

This is exactly what we are working to disrupt.

Mike finds pleasure in mocking citizens in a developing country who use technology to make a living & protect their wealth.

I won’t stop until we disrupt everything people like him stand for. #Nigeria https://t.co/qBVuo2Fpfw

— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) February 6, 2021

It reminded banks that:

Dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges is prohibited.

Dethroning Dollar

It comes as Africa is slowly becoming the first continent in the world where crypto is finding an actual use as a medium of exchange. On this site, we have highlighted the fact that Nigeria was one of the leading users of Bitcoin for trade multiple times in the past year.

They couldn’t track down Herdsmen and Bokoharam in years, but see how proactive the Nigerian police will be in tracking down crpto traders. They are only good at tracking successful Nigerian youths#EndSARS #Bitcoin #Nigeria #Okonjo #PiggyVest #Ethereum #Drake #BinanceSmartChain

— Choice of Port Harcourt (@GodschoiceC) February 5, 2021

In fact, even the leading newspaper New York Times admitted in September already that in Nigeria, a country of 200 million inhabitants, Bitcoin was slowly dethroning the dollar in matters of trade. Rather than exchanging their own currency into dollars and then into the currency of their counterparty in Asia for example, Nigerian traders would simply use crypto.

Youth revolts

The younger Nigerians, who understand that this is simply a power grab by the government, are spewing their outrage over the measure on social media, where they are being supported by many of the known crypto advocates.

RT @EvanKirstel: Wow #Nigeria’s Central Bank has now prohibited banks from processing #bitcoin  and cryptocurrency transactions.
The country ranks second in P2P #bitcoin  volume. #Crypto #cryptocurrency #payments #fintech pic.twitter.com/YS6DEPAMuI

— Fintech Brand Names For Sale (@FintechFor) February 5, 2021

In the past day, Anthony Pompliano has already commented. It is to be expected that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has been critical of the Nigerian regime in the past, will also do so. Given his closeness to the Nigerian youth, it can be expected that Daily Show host Trevor Noah will segment the story in this show next week as well.

This is what happens when one tries to “ban crypto” 👇.

If you have $NGN on Binance, you can:

1. withdraw NGN soon, or
2. convert to #crypto and hold it

It is likely that the Nigeria banks will stop working with exchanges. P2P trading will likely flourish as a result. https://t.co/GhA6M2GMOg

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) February 5, 2021

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao retweeted a comment by a customer of his platform. The man stated that the action of the central bank didn’t matter, as long as he could transfer crypto between platforms.

As long as I can make transfers to other crypto wallets and still trade, I am not withdrawing anything. This is already a failed attempt by the Nigeria government. My money feels safer in my Binance wallet than in Nigeria banks.

SARS Protests

The move by the Nigerian Central Bank seems to have two targets. Firstly to take back control of the trade in their own currency rather than crypto (Nigeria, together with Kenya and South Africa) was experiencing a crypto boom in trade since a year or so), and secondly, the stop the raising of funds by the SARS protesters.

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