According to the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets, Babangida Ibrahim, a bill recognizing the use of Bitcoin and other cryptos will allegedly soon be passed by the Nigerian government.
According to the article, the local Securities and Exchange Commission would be able to “recognize bitcoin and other digital monies as capital for investment” if the Investments and Securities Act 2007 (Amendment) Bill were to become law.
Ibrahim emphasized the need for Nigeria to be current with capital market trends and developments:
“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.”
The allegation comes almost 24 months after Nigeria outlawed cryptocurrency trading in February 2021, when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ordered local cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers to halt operations and ordered banks to shut the accounts of anybody caught trading cryptocurrency.
Ibrahim, who presided over Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, is sure that the law’s passage does not represent a reversal of the prohibition but rather a secondary examination of the CBN’s authority:
“It is not about [the] lifting of the ban, we are looking at the legality: what is legal and what is within the framework of our operations in Nigeria.”
The CBN found that the majority of these investors don’t even have local accounts when bitcoin was first outlawed in Nigeria. Therefore, they fall outside of the CBN’s purview. There is no way for the CBN to verify them since they aren’t using local accounts, he said.
The 2007 Investments and Securities Act of Nigeria would be modified if the legislation is approved.
The bill would specify the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) (Nigeria) regulatory functions on topics connected to digital currencies in addition to giving legal recognition to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to the article.
The eNaira, the digital currency issued by Nigeria’s central bank, has received little to no attention from Nigerians and only has a 0.5% adoption rate as of October, 12 months after its inception.
As usage grew after the ban in February 2021, the Nigerian government’s previous attempts to suppress cryptocurrency activities may have also been fruitless.
Nigerians were only behind the United States in Bitcoin trade volume from January to August of last year, and at that time, they were more likely to google “Bitcoin” than anyone from any other nation.
An April research report by CoinGecko revealed that Nigerian citizens were the most interested in cryptocurrencies. The intrigue is not surprising given that Nigerians are still battling extreme inflation and a depressed economy.
In September, Nigeria began preliminary negotiations with cryptocurrency exchange Binance to create a crypto-friendly economic zone that would assist local blockchain and cryptocurrency firms.
