Nigeria's Central Bank Lifts Crypto Ban: What's Next?

Nigeria's Central Bank lifts crypto ban, sparking potential rivalry between crypto exchanges and P2P sellers.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has removed the banon banks dealing with cryptocurrencies. This change could increase competition between crypto exchanges and peer-to-peer (P2P) sellers.

Before, the CBN banned banks from crypto transactions, making P2P trading popular. But the ban didn't stop Bitcoin and crypto use; instead, people traded directly with each other.

Cointelegraph spoke to Nathaniel Luz, a crypto business co-founder, about this big change. Luz thinks lifting the ban is great for the crypto industry in Nigeria. He believes that formal crypto exchanges will now compete with P2P sellers, who were the main players during the ban.

Luz also discussed how the requirement to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might challenge new startups, but it's good for the industry. He compared it to the banking sector changes in 2010 where weaker banks had to merge to become bigger and stronger.

In February 2021, the CBN stopped financial institutions from serving crypto exchanges. But now, the CBN acknowledges the growing global demand for crypto and finds it unreasonable to keep the strict rules from 2021.