Nigeria 🇳🇬 Government Stop demolishing cryptocurrencies

The Blockchain Association of Nigeria (BAN) has urged the Nigerian public to stop demonizing blockchain and cryptocurrency technology, investments, and products in the country. BAN said that financial institutions should not use the December 2017 directive of the Nigeria Bank of Industry (NBI) as basis for denying services to crypto industry players. BAN is arguing that, contrary to the NBI's directive, all financial institutions have a legal obligation to open bank accounts for crypto and blockchain businesses.

"Banks, like other financial institutions in Nigeria, have a legal obligation to open bank accounts for crypto-related businesses," says BAN. "Entities denying services to legally operating and regulated businesses are liable to civil and criminal prosecution."

"The NBI's directive is outdated," BAN's statement added. "Crypto and blockchain products need regulation, but must move beyond regulatory sandbox approaches as such are limiting innovation in the industry."

It is important to note that NBI's directive was written before South Korea announced its broad cryptocurrency regulatory framework. The South Korean government is allowing cryptocurrency exchanges to operate with stronger security measures and increased transparency while banning all forms of anonymous accounts. This approach is more likely to protect individual investors from potential market manipulation or from the theft of their funds by hackers.

The Blockchain Association of Nigeria (BAN) said in a statement on Tuesday that it was “deeply concerned” about the bank’s “anti-crypto and anti-blockchain stance.”

The association is an advocacy group that supports the adoption of technology standards and industry self-regulation, among other things.

It said that financial institutions should not allow the country’s central bank “to utilise its new directive, as a tool to deny services to crypto businesses in Nigeria.”

A statement from the Nigerian central bank last week had said financial institutions should not use, deal with or provide services to cryptocurrency exchanges.

Nigerian authorities have in recent months taken a negative view of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and its ilk, which are not issued or regulated by a central bank.