{"id":261319,"date":"2021-05-28T12:02:18","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T09:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/crypto-will-come-to-life-in-nigeria-central-bank-governor-says\/"},"modified":"2021-05-28T12:02:18","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T09:02:18","slug":"crypto-will-come-to-life-in-nigeria-central-bank-governor-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/crypto-will-come-to-life-in-nigeria-central-bank-governor-says\/","title":{"rendered":"# Crypto will \u2018come to life\u2019 in Nigeria, central bank governor says"},"content":{"rendered":"

“# Crypto will \u2018come to life\u2019 in Nigeria, central bank governor says <\/strong>”
\n<\/p>\n

At a 279th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele expressed confidence that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) will be legal in the country, Business Insider reports<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Emefiele did not directly mention a decision to reverse the CBN\u2019s February ban of institutions from buying and selling crypto, but noted that the bank has been investigating the industry:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed in the CBN, and I can assure everybody that digital currency will come to life even in Nigeria […] Under cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, Nigeria comes 2nd, while on the global side of the economy, Nigeria comes 27th. We are still conducting our investigation, and we will make our data available.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emefiele also said the Nigerian government will do its best to prevent crypto from being used to finance illicit activities. \u201cWe found out that a substantial percentage of our people are getting involved in cryptocurrency, which is not the best. Don\u2019t get me wrong, some may be legitimate, but most are illegitimate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The banker also expressed concerns over the crypto market crash in mid-May, which has been largely attributed to Tesla CEO Elon Musk\u2019s decision to suspend Bitcoin payments for cars and his further BTC criticism:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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 went up. He now tweeted and raised a few concerns, and the thing plunged.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CBN did not immedia<\/a>tely respond to Cointelegraph\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

As previously reported, Nigeria has emerged as the biggest source of Bitcoin trading volume in Africa as of August 2020, also becoming one of the fastest-growing crypto markets in the world. According to data from Bitcoin P2P marketplace Paxful, Nigeria ranked second only to the United States in trading volume as of December 2020.<\/p>\n

Amid the growing adoption of Bitcoin, Nigeria\u2019s national currency, the naira, has been falling. \u201cBitcoin has made our currency almost useless or valueless,\u201d Senator Sani Musa of the Niger East Senatorial District said in February. Following Emefiele\u2019s latest remarks, the naira dropped 1.2% to near a three-and-half year low<\/a> on the black market on Thursday.<\/p>\n