By
Bena Ilyas
April 25th, 2024
If the suggested regulation efficiently solves the increasing Bitcoin use in the country, it possesses the power to catalyze the economy of Africa’s most populated country.
According to a native Nigerian newspaper, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions of Nigeria, Babangida Ibrahim has announced the legalization of Bitcoin and other crypto trading in the country. Ibrahim claims that the African nation will soon authorize a law that makes the usage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies lawful. The bill would modify the 2007 Investments and Securities Act and would acknowledge Bitcoin as legal capital for investment.
Previously in 2021, Nigeria formally prohibited the trade of Bitcoin with a letter refusing sustainable financial enterprises from using cryptocurrencies. In 2021, Bitcoin Magazine reported Nigeria possessed the largest volume of bitcoin peer-to-peer trading in the world. Nigeria is also assumed to have skyrocketed its bitcoin adoption ever since.
The newspaper report illustrated how Ibrahim brought attention to Nigeria’s inefficiency in the regulation of space, conveying that the country requires an effective and dynamic capital market in Nigeria.
If the suggested regulation efficiently solves the increasing bitcoin use in the country, it possesses the power to catalyze the economy of Africa’s most populated country. Bitcoin, however, enjoys a massive following in the country despite the present ban.
While Bitcoin has plummeted to its lowest price in the past two years, it has been eyed as a tool against inflation by several entities across the globe. However, a particular area that has been aggressive in terms of BTC adoption in Africa.
This also brings in a massive possibility of mainstream crypto adoption in a populated country like Nigeria.
While financially uplifted investors in developed nations usually Bitcoin’s utility as a currency and look at it solely from storage of value point of view, countries like Nigeria with less-privileged areas illustrate the vitality of virtual currencies and their ability to solve real-life issues. This was also reflected in Chainalysis’ global bitcoin adoption index, which showed how the currency is penetrating the under-developed countries which need an alternative currency the most. By weighing every country’s Bitcoin movement, the index discovered that the biggest leap in adoption by the public is in developing economies, which prioritize saving in and transacting with Bitcoin.
Despite the ban, cryptocurrency is significantly present in Nigeria, with a Bitcoin village under construction. Crypto mining activities are also extremely prevalent in the area. Previously, World’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance had added twelve Nigerian Banks to its P2P platform to lower the probable disturbances and also establish a virtual economic zone that will help local crypto users and entrepreneurs learn about crypto.