Nigeria Government make U-turn on cryptocurrency ban

An officer from Nigeria's reiterated that cryptocurrency trading is not prohibited. Banks are not allowed to work with crypto companies, however.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has reportedly made clear the highest monetary authority's position on the use of cryptocurrencies for domestic banking exchanges.

Today, Adamu Lamtek, deputy head of the Nigerian Central Bank or CBN, stated on behalf of Adamu Emefiele that Nigerian residents were not prohibited from acquiring, trading or sold cryptocurrencies, but rathe, according to the local News Outlet

Emefiele referred previously to “non-legitimate money” as cryptocurrencies, which does not exist within the Nigerian monetary system. At the time the Governor said that the Central Bank was doing its utmost to understand better the impact of the emerging area.

In Nigeria, however, numerous regulators and crypto enthusiasts criticized the ban. Some Nigerian Senate law makers proposed to convene a hearing on issues concerning regulation of Cryptocurrencies in the country to invite the Governor of the Nigerian Central Bank and major players involved in cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin (BTC) has trade in premium prices in the country since the CBN introduced a ban on cryptocurrencies.