Against the backdrop of the increasing global interests, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday restated its earlier warning against investments in crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Onecoin, among others, as well as exchanges such as NairaEx, as they are not legal tender in the country.
In a statement, by its Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, sequel to its January 12, 2017 circular to banks and other financial institutions on virtual currency operations in Nigeria, the CBN reiterated that such are not licensed or regulated by it.
He emphasized that dealers and investors in any kind of crypto currency in the country are not protected by law and that such investors are doing so at their own risk, since they may be unable to seek legal redress in event of failure of the exchangers or collapse of the business.
Wednesday’s statement recalled that its earlier circular, signed by the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Kevin Amugo, had among other issues noted that virtual currencies were traded in exchange platforms that are unregulated, all over the world.
It had noted that transactions in virtual currencies were largely untraceable and anonymous thereby making them susceptible to abuse by criminals , in money laundering and financing of terrorism.