Steem Crypto Challenge #4: The Future of Cryptocurrency, Nigeria’s Point of View.

in STEEM NIGERIA3 years ago

Thank you, @steemcurator01 for this opportunity again to write on cryptos.

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For the purpose of this challenge and this first entry, I will focus on cryptocurrency acceptance in Nigeria and government’s view about it. Welcome onboard!

Historical reactions on cryptocurrency in Nigeria

Cryptocurrency gained awareness in Nigeria in 2017, as different Nigerians got so excited about it. A lot of people started learning how to trade on different assets and some went into blogging.

With the awareness about steem, most people got to understand how cryptos work and harnessed the potentials in owning an asset in the different blockchains that onboard.

Government Reaction

There was quite a hostile reception by the government of Nigeria. Guess what! The central bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex bank that regulates the activities of every commercial bank in the country, kicked against cryptocurrency.

According to the apex bank, transactions involving cryptocurrency can not be monitored, as such it is not safe. The government supported the ban on every transaction in cryptos, thus ordering banks not to offer any platform for buying and selling of cryptos with Nigerian Naira.

But presently, there’s no ban, as the government acted out of ignorance that time, because they don’t have the facility on ground to monitor or stop these transactions.

Presently, the government is slowly accepting cryptos, without talking about it. For instance, Binance has been registered in Nigeria and you can actually buy and sell any crypto of your choice using Binance, Luno, among other applications.

The Plight of Crypto Traders in Nigeria

Here in Nigeria, we have a lot of traders on cryptos. But they can’t come out in the open to say what they do, because they are seen as fraudsters.

Trading in cryptos in Nigeria is a secret business for now, because of government policies and the general public’s perception.

For example, I went to make my shoes along my street last week. As I was waiting for the shoemaker to come to attend to me, I overhead two men talking about cryptos.

They tagged it as the new fraud in town and mentioned how many people are falling for it. Imagine if such group of people happen to see my steem account or any of my trades, they would report me to the police.

That’s the unfortunate mindset of most Nigerians in the grassroot about cryptos.

I have observed that such mindset about cryptos exist among the uneducated and unexposed members of the community.

The Present and Potentials of cryptos in Nigeria

The good news presently is that cryptos has gained so much acceptance in Nigeria in 2020. In February this year, Bitfxt, Nigeria’s cryptos startup recorded about $15 million investment in cryptos.

June 2020, Venturburn reported that a blockchain-based Nigerian-founded fintech start-up, Jamborow, raised a whopping $400,000 to launch in Nigeria.

The future of cryptocurrency is really bright in Nigeria and I see the government legalizing it soon.

This is the much I can tell you today, but expect more to come before this challenge is over.

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I am Asian George from Nigeria.

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Yeah bro, you are right. The government acted out of worry that the decentralized nature of crypto posed a potential threat to security of people's funds and this made them to kick against it initially and even warned the citizens. Today however, there is more knowledge on the subject and the government now know better than to ban crypto in the country. While decentralization might pose a threat of fraud, ease of use and widespread information about how crypto transactions work can help users identify fake or phishing activities. The government is planning to regulate crypto assets and their usage in the country. That's really a good indication of a brighter future for crypto in Nigeria.

#twopercent #nigeria

 3 years ago 

thank you for your comment. Let's hope for better days.

Congratulations you are one of the winners of the Steem Crypto Challenge Month...

Thank you for taking part

The Steemit Team

 3 years ago 

Thank you very much, great team.

Shared on tweeter:

https://twitter.com/Georgedezent/status/1318419536744488966?s=20

It is rumored that it will expand to 6 African countries within the next 18 months, one of the countries that is the destination for SADA's expansion is Nigeria. This is a form of SADA's effort to make its company an investor that funds the largest Blockchain and cryptocurrency project on the African continent with a target of investing in more than 60 projects in the next 32 months in Africa.

This news is a breath of fresh air for the development of cryptocurrency and blockchain in African countries in advancing the use of Blockchain in a wider society.

 3 years ago 

That's great to hear. Thank you for sharing it here.

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