At a time, Nigeria was considered a top nation in terms of crypto adoption. To put it in numbers, they were among the top 5 countries adopting crypto. They were also among the top 5 crypto trading nations. Then it was easy to buy, hold and transact in crypto currencies. Many foreign crypto establishments set up offices in the country. But in 2021, the narrative changed.
A Ban
In a rather rash decision, the countries central bank banned every transaction in crypto currencies. It was a gloomy phase for crypto enthusiasts. You can neither buy or sell through the traditional banking system. Holding or transacting in any form of crypto, was illegal. Cases were told of so many bank customers having their accounts flagged just for having the word 'crypto' as a transaction narration. Many of my friends lost their monies and savings because of this ban.
The only option available for die hard crypto traders was the p2p route. This in itself was OK but then had limitations , still you still need to be cautious. You could even be arrested by the police for just having a crypto related app on your phone.
The implications of all these was far reaching.
- Big players stopped trading for fear of being arrested.
- Though few exchanges resorted to P2P, the onboarding process was not as smooth as should be, especially for new users. It was totally different from when one can just buy crypto currencies by using their bank cards or account.
- crypto adoption plummeted a great deal.
- many crypto initiatives could not be carried out as should be. The few ones that tried were done in silence.
I remember, one time, I wanted to talk about hive on radio, the station wouldn't go ahead with the interview because crypto was involved. It was a terrible time for crypto and crypto traders in the country. Despite the economic downturn, and obviously seeing ways blockchain and crypto currencies could help, the government insisted on the ban.
Fast-forward to today, the central bank issued a counter directive. Banks are to now liase and work out modalities for the integration of crypto currencies and related assets into the banking system. Almost 3 years after a clearly idiotic ban.
With this latest news and development, experts believe it would once again propel crypto adoption, this time to an even larger scale. Considering Nigerian population of over 220 million people, it was a no brainer.
But what else does this news portend for hive, as a blockchain and as a token, for Leo, HBD and crypto currency in general?
- with this news, big players on the sidelines, are bound to return to the markets, perhaps bigger this time. This only points to more adoption.
- Now it will be much easier to buy crypto with your bank accounts and cards. This will help in making onboarding easy for new users.
- it will help unlock new wave of funding into the Nigerian economy.
- many crypto initiative will start to thrive in the country, which is a major plus.
- crypto currencies can be freely transfered and used for payment of goods and services. Promoters could probably push or work out the use of HBD for payment as been done by some countries.
- projects like hive could now be promoted aggressively without fear of going against government directives. This could mean more people getting to hear and embrace hive in large numbers as never seen before.
There are so many other positives, but in all, it is a welcome development for the broader world of crypto currency. Imagine what 20% of 220 million people, onboarded, can do to any space, crypto inclusive. So, let the good time begin.