The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, says that the digital currency "will also come to life in Nigeria". This is just a few months after the central bank ordered banks to stop serving the cryptocurrency industry.
While acknowledging his country's position as one of the world's leading crypto markets, Emefiele nonetheless insists that his organization is still conducting its investigation and "will make its data available shortly."
The governor says many Nigerians have embraced cryptocurrencies
Meanwhile, a report quotes the governor himself expressing his displeasure that many Nigerians have embraced cryptocurrencies. Here's what he would have said:
“We carried out our investigations and found that a significant percentage of our population is involved in cryptocurrencies, which is not the best. Don't get me wrong, some may be legitimate, but most are illegitimate ”.
As several reports have shown, the CBN's February 6 directive to banks appears to have failed in its objective. Nigerian interest in cryptocurrencies and other emerging fintechs continues to grow.
For example, according to some internal surveys, the volumes of peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchanges in the country have increased, while interest in bitcoin (quotation BTC) remains one of the highest in Africa.
Crypto Market Volatility
Meanwhile, Emefiele, who appears to be following events in the global cryptocurrency industry, attempts to use Elon Musk's shifting views on BTC to highlight vulnerabilities in the cryptocurrency market.
In recent weeks, Musk has made a number of comments on BTC and the cryptocurrency market in general and this has caused cryptocurrency prices to drop. Emefiele explained:
“We have seen the market collapse. Initially, when Elon Musk tweeted around the time we said our banking and payment facilities are no longer available for cryptocurrency transactions and tweeted that he would invest $ 1,5 billion, the price of bitcoin went up. Now he tweeted again and raised some concerns and the thing (cryptocurrency) has plummeted. "
Meanwhile, despite revealing CBN's commitment to creating a digital currency, Emefiele fails to offer a timeline within which it is expected to come to life.
In short, Nigeria is also interested in its own CDBC, but Africa's first digital currency still seems distant. Meanwhile, even in Europe and the USA there is still talk of the euro and the digital dollar. Which, however, at least in a first phase, would not replace paper money, but will accompany it.
And what do you think of Emefiele's revelation that Nigeria will have its own digital currency? Are you also in favor of introducing a digital euro? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
