Reportedly, the nigerian government will soon pass a law that will recognize the use of bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies as a means of keeping up with “global practices”.
The news was published by the Nigerian newspaper Punch Newspapers on December 18 following an interview with the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets, Babangida Ibrahim.
The report claimed that if the Securities and Investments (Amendment) Bill 2007 becomes law, it would allow the local Securities and Exchange Commission to “recognize cryptocurrency and other digital funds as capital for investment”.
Ibrahim stressed the need for Nigeria to keep abreast of trends and developments in the capital markets.:
“As I said earlier during the second reading, we need an efficient and vibrant capital market in Nigeria. For this, we have to be up to date [con] world practices.”
The report comes nearly 24 months after Nigeria banned crypto activity in February 2021.; The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered Nigerian crypto exchanges and service providers to cease activity and ordered banks to close the accounts of any person or entity found to be engaging in trading activities.
But Ibrahim – who was president of Nigeria between 1985 and 1993 – insists that the passage of the law does not mark a 180-degree turn on the ban, but rather a secondary revision. of what falls within the scope of competences of the CBN:
“Does not about [del] lifting of the ban; we are looking at the legality: what is legal and what falls within the framework of our operations in Nigeria.”
“When cryptocurrencies were initially banned in Nigeria, the CBN discovered that most of these investors don’t even use local accounts. Therefore, they are not within the jurisdiction of the CBN. Since they don’t use local accounts, there is no way for the CBN to control them,” he explained.
If the bill is passed, it will amend the Nigerian Securities and Investments Act, 2007.
In addition to granting legal recognition to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the law will define the regulatory roles of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria (SEC) in matters related to digital currenciesaccording to the report.
The law also comes as Nigerians have shown little or no interest in Nigeria’s central bank digital currency, the eNaira.which had only achieved a 0.5% adoption rate in October, 12 months after its launch.
arguably Nigerian government efforts to crack down on crypto activity previously were also ineffective, as adoption continued to rise following the ban in February 2021.
From January to August last year, Nigerians trailed only the United States in bitcoin trading volume.and during the same period, Nigerians were more likely to Google “Bitcoin” than citizens of any other country.
According to a study conducted in April by CoinGecko, Nigerians are also the country with the most curiosity about cryptocurrencies. This curiosity is not surprising, as Nigerians continue to battle runaway inflation and economic malaise..
In September, Nigeria also entered into preliminary talks with cryptocurrency exchange Binance to develop a crypto-friendly economic zone. with the aim of supporting companies related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain in the region.
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