Nigeria's Central Bank: We Can't Stop Bitcoin

Earlier this week, at a breakfast meeting organized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria (CIBN), the country's top financial technology (fintech) figures gathered to discuss the impact of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin and blockchain technology. Musa Itopa-Jimoh, deputy director of banking and payment systems at the Central Bank of Nigeria, spoke at the meeting. In an interview with the media after the meeting, he clarified the Central Bank of Nigeria's position on Bitcoin and pointed out that many people have misunderstood the central bank's recent warning.

A conference focused on Bitcoin

The conference was titled “Virtual (Crypto) Currencies: Evolution, Regulatory Challenges and Their Implications for Future Payment and Settlement Systems.” Dr. Uche Olowo, First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in his opening remarks, spoke about why the central bank considers this subject to be critical to the Nigerian financial market, and he started with Bitcoin.

He mentioned that the global financial community is both curious and cautious about Bitcoin. He said: "On the one hand, stakeholders believe that it is the world's best performing and highest value currency, while on the other hand, it is regarded by most traditional financial circles as unstable and complex, and its intrinsic value is also questioned." Despite this, he said, "Bitcoin has the ability to have a great impact on traditional payment methods and settlement systems around the world."

After the meeting, Mr. Musa Itopa-Jimoh said in an interview with foreign media Proshare Web TV:

“Central banks cannot control or regulate Bitcoin, and the same is true for blockchain. It’s just like no one can control or regulate the Internet. That’s because we don’t own it.”

Nigeria’s central bank previously warned against cryptocurrencies

Interestingly, in the past, the Central Bank of Nigeria has issued several warnings against cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. On January 12 this year, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued a notice to major banks and financial institutions in the country, asking them not to "use, hold, or use such technologies for transactions in virtual currencies." The notice mentioned Bitcoin, Onecoin, Monero, and Dogecoin as examples, and stated that banks that still insist on using digital currencies must "take their own risks."

On the same day, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement reminding citizens to be cautious when investing in Bitcoin, Onecoin and Swisscoin (Onecoin and Swisscoin are both pyramid schemes, but the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission confuses the two), and told the public that such investment is inherently risky.

Nigeria's Central Bank: "We Can't Stop Bitcoin"

Despite the central bank’s warnings about cryptocurrencies, Mr. Musa Itopa-Jimoh explained that the Nigerian central bank has no intention of preventing the adoption of Bitcoin.

“We are not the issuer of Bitcoin. It is not our currency, we do not control it, we do not issue it, so we do not control it,” he said. “We are just warning Nigerians that if investors continue to participate in cryptocurrency investments, they will not be protected by the central bank because it is not within our control.”

He also noted:

“A lot of people misunderstand, they think we want to stop Bitcoin. We can’t stop Bitcoin. Bitcoin was not invented in 2015 or 2012, it was not invented in 2010. So how can the Central Bank of Nigeria, not the central banks of the world, stop the operation and implementation of Bitcoin?”