Nigeria’s central bank recently made headlines enforcing cryptocurrency restrictions on how the country’s banking sector works. Specifically, CBN reminded regulated financial institutions yesterday that a 2017 regulation prohibits them from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions or facilitating payments for exchanges. In a press release meant to showcase the rationale for the restrictions, the bank provided the following:
“Cryptocurrencies have become well-suited for conducting many illegal activities including money laundering, terrorism financing, purchase of small arms and light weapons, and tax evasion. Indeed, many banks and investors who place a high value on reputation have been turned off from cryptocurrencies because of the damaging effects of the widespread use of cryptocurrencies for illegal activities.”
Limiting the ability of investors to work through traditional Nigerian financial clearinghouses to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrency, the bank ignored the evident popularity of cryptocurrency trading within the country and made some arguments that cryptocurrency proponents consider being erroneous. For example, CBN reportedly claimed that the
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