CBN Governor Says Nigeria Will Introduce Digital Currency

The Central Bank of Nigeria, a few months ago, banned the use of cryptocurrency in the country. Banks were banned from authorizing crypto-related operations and ordered to close accounts that operate on crypto. The CBN Governor, while defending the ban said that cryptocurrency is associated with “…activities of traders in an electronic dark world where transactions are not visible and not transparent”. The Governor also mentioned that cryptocurrency is being used to fuel terrorism operations and to launder money in the country. A few months after the ban and his declarations, the CBN Governor has come out to promise that Nigeria will have its digital currency.

The CBN Governor during the 297th MPR meeting held in Abuja on Tuesday mentioned that the Nigeria will have her digital currency.

“We have carried out our investigation and we found out that a substantial percentage of our people are getting involved in cryptocurrency which is not the best. Don’t get me wrong, some may be legitimate but most are illegitimate.”, Godwin Emefiele; the CBN Governor said.

The CBN Governor also added that “Under cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, Nigeria comes 2nd while in the global side of the economy, Nigeria comes 27th. We are still conducting our investigation and we will make our data available.”

The CBN Governor did not hesitate to express his concerns about the crypto market, Elon Musk’s influence and the role Tesla played in Bitcoin’s recent plunge. “We saw the market collapse. Initially, when Elon Musk tweeted around the time when we said our banking and payment facilities are no longer available for cryptocurrency transactions and he tweeted that he will invest $1.5 billion and the price (Bitcoin) went up. He now tweeted and raised a few concerns and the thing (cryptocurrency) plunged.”, he said.

After stating his worries about cryptocurrency, the apex bank’s Governor reassured Nigerians that a digital currency will come in soon.  “We are committed in the CBN and I can assure everybody that digital currency will come to life even in Nigeria.”, he said.

Other countries across the world have started testing and looking for ways to create a national digital currency. South Korea’s Central Bank recently announced plans of developing a digital currency. Last month, the UK joined the list of countries considering creating a digital currency. The Bank of Japan has already started it’s experiments regarding digital currency.

People have already taken to social media to express their opinions about what the CBN Governor said.