Highlights
- Commercial banks in Nigeria are monitoring cryptocurrency trading accounts
- Individual accounts with significant multi-day inflows and withdrawals are being monitored by the country’s central bank
Nigeria’s financial institutions have taken this action in response to a directive from the Nigerian Central Bank (CBN) mandating all commercial banks to freeze the accounts of at least two individuals engaged in cryptocurrency trading.
A Memo To All Employees
Leadership reported on an internal letter from one of the banks asking employees to begin monitoring accounts with high transaction volumes or suspected Bitcoin trading activity. The following is mentioned in the document quoted by Leadership: All Bitcoin accounts that do not comply with the CBN’s directive will be terminated, and any non-compliance will result in a severe regulatory penalty.” Given the possible danger posed by Bitcoin exchanges, all staff have been ordered to immediately terminate any accounts associated with them.
The CBN Still Frowns On Crypto
The message made it quite apparent that employees who willfully refuse to reveal their account’s involvement in Bitcoin trading would face disciplinary action. According to internal emails, all bank personnel are now required to monitor accounts, transactions, and customers to verify that the bank complies with CBN regulations properly. Businesses with high transaction volumes that lack a payment license, or those that include cryptocurrencies into their memorandum of business, maybe flagged for questionable behavior. Suspicious multi-day inflows and withdrawals of funds from personal accounts and small enterprises should be flagged. As a consequence, accounts that receive a significant sum of money from a variety of payees and make a high number of payments to a variety of beneficiaries will be closely reviewed.
Nigerian Diaspora Reacts To His Bank Account Suspension
With the demise of E-Naira, the Nigerian government is now pursuing young individuals who believe in encryption.
“Yesterday, the Confused Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) suspended my Nigerian Naira account, which I use to assist my family back home”, said one member of the Nigerian diaspora.
Once more businesses begin to accept cryptocurrencies, their game is finished.
A Lawmaker In Nigeria Is Challenging The CBN
Within days after eNaira’s formal debut, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wrote a letter alleging that the accounts were being used for cryptocurrency trading, a blatant violation of the central bank’s February 5 mandate. Senator Ihenyen, head of the Nigerian Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association, condemned the CBN’s decision on Twitter as unlawful and unjust. According to Ihenyen, only the Nigerian legislature has the authority to regulate Bitcoin (BTC).
“This is unjust and a violation of constitutional rights. The objective here is not regulation, but despotism. What happened to @nassnigeria’s Twitter account? What @cenbank is doing violates all of the game’s rules and regulations. This must come to an end. We do not live in an ungoverned nation. Only the National Assembly has the authority to declare cryptocurrency unlawful. It is past time to end CBN persecution”.
