The Central Bank of Nigeria has reportedly denied ever placing restrictions on the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
According to Adamu Lamtek, the deputy governor of CBN who is responsible for corporate services at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), reiterated that the institution’s directive only applies to the banking sector.
Deputy Governor Lamtek, who spoke on behalf of the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this in Abuja at the 30th seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors organised by the bank.
He added that the CBN directives prohibited only the banks from facilitating crypto-related transactions and did not ban cryptocurrency trading.
Following the CBN directive of the 5th of February 2021, financial institutions comply with the directives, immediately after the volume on centralised crypto exchanges dropped while the volumes on B2B platforms are on the rise.
Meanwhile, after the CBN ordered banks to stop facilitating crypto transactions, many leaders from Nigeria’s blockchain and fintech space reacted by expressing their opposition. One of such is the Vice president of Nigeria, Yemi Osibanjo who said cryptocurrencies should be regulated rather than ‘killing’ it.
