Cryptocurrency News: Nigeria To Pass Bill On Legalizing Cryptos & Bitcoins

Cryptocurrency News: According to reports by a Nigerian-based newspaper, Nigeria is in the process of legalizing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to keep up with the growing digital market.

The Nigeria-based newspaper had an interview with the House of Committee representative of capital markets. He stated that if the bill of amendment of Investments and Securities Act, 2007 then the cryptocurrencies and other digital money will be recognized as an investment capital.

Also Read: What is Chatgpt & Why it is Popular?

Chairman Bangida Ibrahim of Capital markets said,

“Like I said earlier during the second reading, we need an efficient and vibrant capital market in Nigeria. For us to do that, we have to be up to date [with] global practices.”

Ibrahim, former president of Nigeria was quoted as saying,

“It is not about lifting of the ban, we are looking at the legality: what is legal and what is within the framework of our operations in Nigeria.”

He also added that its not a u-turn on ban, but a good way to regulate cryptos in the country.

In February, 2021 the Nigerian government banned any kind of crypto activity in the country including trading. The Central Bank of Nigeria ordered to shut down accounts of people from banks who are found to be trading any digital currencies.

Cryptocurrency News: Reasons to uplift the ban on cryptos

However, later CBN came to realise that these individual were not trading on local accounts. So, it is not possible for the bank to track the trading and ban it completely. Bitcoin was the most googled word in Nigeria, compared to any other country. It inly trailed USA in terms of Bitcoin trading. People adopted the cryptocurrencies more, since its ban.

Also Read: What is Physical NFT?

eNaira, CBN’s issued this currency as a digital currency for Nigeria. Nevertheless, it saw an adoption of only 0.50% in the last 12 months. This data shows that people are clearly not interested in it.

According to a research by CoinGecko, in April this year, the Nigerians are the most crypto curious people. This might be due to the rising inflation and other economic disturbances. In September 2022, Nigerians were also in a discussion with Binance to make it a crypto friendly nation and ease the movement of digital currencies.