The former presidential aspirant under the platform of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), said on Sunday. February 7, during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, that an outright ban on crypto transactions is misplaced.
He said, “A lot of the activities in the world are going digital and I would not recommend banning it (cryptocurrencies) outright.
“$500 million worth of Bitcoin has been traded in Nigeria within the last five years and Nigeria is one of the top 10 countries in the use of cryptocurrencies in the world today.
”Also, one of the things that attract Nigerians a lot to cryptocurrencies is because the Central Bank and I have said this you know a lot of the policy-making that has come out of the bank in recent years have been ad hoc, changes from today to tomorrow and so on, policies concerning remittances, policies concerning foreign exchanges and so on and so forth.
‘’But trading in these cryptocurrencies for many people protects them from fluctuations in the value of the naira because every fiat money, every currency in the world over time depreciates in value because of inflation and this is one of the reasons people go for cryptocurrencies.’’
The financial banker also opined that crypto is becoming a real factor in the country’s investment ecosystem, and a source of livelihood for many Nigerians. He also noted that the ban has made many Nigerians to start seeing the government as always taking actions aimed at taking away opportunities from Nigerians, especially in a depressed economy.
He said, “The Nigerian Government should try to make the investment climate far more friendly and efficient than it is now. It is unfriendly, that’s why the foreign investment is declining.’’
It can be recalled that the CBN had earlier directed deposit money banks and other financial institutions to immediately close the accounts of such persons or entities transacting in or operating cryptocurrency exchanges, warning of severe regulatory sanctions in the event of any breach of the directive.
The order was contained in a circular to banks and other financial institutions, signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Bello Hassan, and was expected to take effect immediately.