Crypto fans likely remember the case when Nigeria’s Central Bank stopped the West African nation’s banks and financial institutions from offering platforms for the processing of cryptocurrencies.
The ban saw the institutions stop trading in crypto, including Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum.
The Central Bank argued that the restriction was needed because as a whole, crypto was posing a financial risk to individuals and the country’s financial system.
Reason? Well, the CBN said that cryptocurrencies are issued by unknown entities that are also unregulated.
It was a move that was met by an online backlash because Nigeria is one of the African nations that has been at the forefront in popularizing digital currencies.
However, the February 2021 ban appears to have taken another turn. According to Reuters, Nigeria will launch a digital currency, named eNaira on Monday 25, October 2021.
The CBN Governor made the news official, stating that the digital currency will operate as a wallet that will allow customers to hold existing funds in their bank accounts.
“The eNaira, therefore, marks a major step forward in the evolution of money and the CBN is committed to ensuring that the eNaira, like the physical Naira, is accessible by everyone,” the bank said in a statement.
eNaira has been developed in partnership with Bitt Inc. that is based in Barbados.
The development is interesting because it largely demonstrates trust, and that digital currency could receive additional legislation in its path towards being treated as a legal tender.
Locally, Kenya has no specific crypto laws, although the currency is insanely popular among enthusiasts.
