Nigerian Minister Opposes Cryptocurrency Ban

Nigerian Minister of State Planning Clem Agba urged the government not to ban cryptocurrencies in the country, but to create a special body to regulate them.

Minister Clem Agba
statedthat local regulators should not impose a ban on the cryptocurrency industry, but on the contrary, they should “focus” on creating conditions for the development of investments in digital assets. The minister’s statement is related to the actions of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which in February banned banks from serving cryptocurrency exchanges and any firms working with cryptoassets.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission believes that all cryptocurrencies and tokens should be classified as securities. According to the minister, the problem lies precisely in the lack of a clear classification of cryptocurrencies. In turn, this creates uncertainty about which body should control the activities of cryptocurrency firms and traders.

Agba is convinced that regulators should look for ways to prudently oversee the industry, as uncertainty in digital asset regulation deprives the country’s citizens of making the most of their opportunities. In addition, bans on cryptocurrencies could force people to engage in “shadow investments,” Agba said. The current legislation does not stipulate who is vested with the authority to regulate cryptocurrencies, so Agba proposed to establish a new body for this.

A few months ago, a similar idea was proposed by the Coinbase trading platform, stating the need to create a separate department in the United States that would control the cryptocurrency industry. Coinbase argues that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are adopting legacy approaches that are only suitable for traditional financial instruments.