Nigeria’s Crypto Ban Will Drive Users To P2P Exchanges: Report

Nigeria’s crypto ban will only drive the users to P2P exchanges as the news reports show while the “Bitcoin nation” faces an uncertain future in the country so let’s read more in today’s crypto news.

Nigeria’s crypto ban that came from the central bank told all the banks to cancel their services for customers who buy, trade, or sell crypto. Adedayo Thomas who is the executive director of African Liberty said that the government considers crypto an unnecessary hassle and CEO of Dan Holdings Danny Oyekan is concerned that the central banks’ directive will only slow down innovation.

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— Ray Youssef (@raypaxful) February 6, 2021

Nigeria’s central bank told all banks to cancel their services a day ago, for all customers that buy, sell, or trade crypto. The bank provided no explanation apart from the risk associated with crypto transactions. The bank also said that it will enforce prohibitions of crypto trading with the immediate effect but the growing body of traders in the country still have a hard time grappling with the uncertainty caused by the enforcement. This is a big deal considering that Nigeria is the second biggest BTC trading volume country in the world. the country traded 60,215 BTC over the past five years or more than $566 million which is a figure only surpassed by the US.

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The Government & Banks in Nigeria are just scared because
many nigerians are becoming their own banks with crypto #Cardano

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— Biggest Talker Online 🔞 (@RChrisbb) February 5, 2021

Nigeria tops Africa in trading volumes as well on peer-to-peer crypto exchanges LocalBitcoins and Paxful according to the data by Arcane Research which found that in the second quarter of last year, Nigeria’s P2P BTC trading weekly volumes doubled from $8 million to $16 million. Adedayo Thomas who is the executive director of Nigeria’s African Liberty think tank said that the government considers crypto an unnecessary hassle. The pandemic caused enough trouble for financial institutions so crypto could put too much pressure on the crashing economy. More than 20 million Nigerians could be driven into poverty by 2022 according to a World Bank official.

Crypto companies that operate in the region will have to comply but the Binance Nigeria regional branch already suspended all deposits. Danny Oyekan said:

 “And not just [for] Nigeria. Considering that Nigeria is Africa’s largest market and the most populous country, I think this news may influence other African countries.”

He started to notice that other regulators as well, are having similar discussions and hopes that the banks will start recognizing crypto’s potential rather than further limiting their access:

 “I highly doubt this region’s young generation will sit still with this news. The crypto community in Nigeria will not stand for this abrupt halt in their recent efforts and advancements. This ban will be met with action.”