The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again fired a warning to Nigerians to be cautious of investments in cryptocurrency, stressing that virtual currencies are not legal tender in Nigeria.
A press release issued by the Bank on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, reiterated that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Onecoin, among others and Exchanges such as NairaEx were not licensed or regulated by the CBN.
The CBN said transactions in virtual transactions in virtual currencies were “largely untraceable and anonymous thereby making them susceptible to abuse by criminals, in money laundering and financing of terrorism”.
“Dealers and investors in any kind of cryptocurrency in Nigeria were not protected by law, thus may be unable to seek legal redress in event of failure of the exchangers or collapse of the business,” the statement said.
The statement signed by the Bank’s acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, emphasized that dealers and investors in any kind of crypto currency in Nigeria were not protected by law, thus may be unable to seek legal redress in event of failure of the exchangers or collapse of the business.
The CBN therefore warned Nigerians against investing in cryptocurrency as doing so would be at their own risk.
A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography (the art of writing and solving codes), to secure its transactions, control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets.