A recent Nigerian media report has suggested that authorities in the West African country are planning to ban regulated financial institutions from facilitating peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions. The report, citing anonymous sources, states that three fintech startups known for enabling such transactions have already been instructed to block and report these transactions to law enforcement.
The speculation that Nigeria plans to ban P2P cryptocurrency transactions emerged just weeks after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was compelled to publicly disavow a letter that purported to reverse a decision made on Feb. 5, 2021. As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, the CBN officially lifted the directive at the beginning of 2024. The directive forced banks to exclude cryptocurrency entities from the banking ecosystem.
Although the letter was ultimately dismissed as a hoax, many in the Nigerian cryptocurrency community argued that the incident had undermined investor confidence. Some speculated that the CBN had intentionally released the letter to gauge reactions before making a final decision.
Meanwhile, a report from Techcabal on May 3 revealed that Nigeria’s Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), which has influenced the country’s policy on cryptocurrency transactions in recent months, has classified cryptocurrency trading as a national security issue. Such a designation could suggest that Nigerian authorities are considering a ban on peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency transactions, said Tosin Eniolorunda, the CEO of fintech startup Moniepoint.
Eniolorunda also shared his insights on why Nigerian authorities are now keen to block P2P transactions.
“The NSA found a lot of accounts [that were involved in crypto trading] and blocked the accounts. They were worried that fintechs are rapid [in opening accounts] and told us to stop onboarding,” the Moniepoint CEO said.
While no date has been specified, the report quotes an unidentified individual who claims that the ban is expected to be announced soon.
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