In Brief:
- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered that cryptocurrency trading accounts be cancelled.
- CBN also banned financial institutions from providing services to cryptocurrency exchanges in February.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered Nigerian commercial banks to liquidate accounts linked to two companies accused of crypto trading.
The order was contained in a Post-No-Debit Circular published on November 3, according to a report by Nigerian media website Peoples Gazette.
The CBN’s director of banking supervision, J. Y. Mammanand issued a circular ordering the immediate closure of the accounts of one firm, TVS Hallmark Service Limited, and two people, Nwaorgu Kingsley Chibuzor and Nnamdi Francis Okereke.
The funds held by the indicted entities should also be deposited in “suspense accounts,” according to the CBN memo. Several fintech firms have also been shut down in recent months, though this time it was for allegedly providing unregistered asset management services.
In February, Nigeria’s central bank prohibited financial institutions from providing services to cryptocurrency trading platforms. The central bank also asked commercial banks to identify and close accounts linked to bitcoin trading activity as part of the order.
Cryptocurrency is not prohibited in Nigeria, according to the CBN. The banking prohibition, according to the central bank, was enacted to prevent the use of the country’s financial system to facilitate crypto transactions.
Peer-to-peer transactions are said to account for the majority of the country’s virtual currency trading activity following the prohibition. Despite the CBN ban, lower remittance costs and currency devaluation continue to fuel crypto adoption in Nigeria.
In October, the e-Naira, Nigeria’s digital currency, was launched by the country’s president.
