The buzz about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology has continued to grow in 2021, with institutional clients showing interest in Bitcoin. Tesla, being one of them recently invested a whopping $1.5 billion in BTC according to a SEC filing to become the biggest crypto investment by an institutional client, and in the process pushed Bitcoin to hit a new all-time-high price of $48,000.
Tesla, Inc is an American electric vehicle and clean energy company founded in 2003 by Elon Musk and a group of engineers. Elon Musk is the current richest man in the world, also the CEO of SpaceX and a doge coin (DOGE) whale. Elon has become very popular on crypto twitter with his constant tweets about DOGE, shilling the most popular meme coin to his over 46.3 million followers.
Ð is for Ðogecoin! Instructional video.https://t.co/UEEocOfcTb
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2021
Recently, Elon Musk added Bitcoin to his bio on twitter and this was followed with an over 14% pump in the number one cryptocurrency.
The central bank of Nigeria bans crypto
Amid the growing interest in crypto by institutions around the world, the central bank of Nigeria on Friday 5th February 2020, sent a letter to all deposit money banks (DMGs), non-financial institutions (NFIs) and other financial institutions (OFIs) in Nigeria, directing them to identify persons or entities transacting in cryptocurrencies or operating crypto exchanges within their systems and ensure that such accounts are closed immediately. The CBN further stated that any breach to this directive will attract severe regulatory sanctions to such institution.
According to data from Coin.dance Nigeria is currently ranked as the seventh country with the most Bitcoin trades on LocalBitcoins with $286 million amounting to 4.07% of the total all-time country volume.
Nigerian youths have become more interested in Bitcoin propelling the country to rank number one in regards Bitcoin searches in the world, according to Google Trends data. This growing interests by Nigerian youths cannot be stopped with a ban on cryptocurrencies by the CBN.
Are cryptocurrencies illegal?
This is a very important question but I would like to state that anyone that says cryptocurrencies are illegal is ignorant and shouldn’t be allowed to hold any office in a financial institution in the 21st century including those in the central bank of Nigeria.
Money has evolved over the years. Before the advent of the internet money was just lodged in bank accounts with no central server storing balances of account holders. But today through the use of the internet you can spend the money in your account in real-time anywhere in your country of residence or even worldwide but with some restrictions.
Cryptocurrency backed with blockchain technology and the internet makes it possible for you to manage and spend money in a decentralized way anywhere in the world with little or no restrictions. Decentralization is the main reason why the banks and governments term cryptocurrencies as being illegal because it will gradually take away their centralized power. Cryptocurrencies are not illegal but decentralized in nature.
The way forward for crypto enthusiast in Nigeria
While the central bank of Nigeria has temporarily issued a ban on cryptocurrencies in Nigeria that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest in cryptocurrency as a Nigerian. Tesla’s recent investment in Bitcoin made me understand that for the first time in history Nigerian youths have a chance of financial inclusion with high net worth individuals and corporations by investing in an asset class early with them.
What should you do?
- Do your own research and findings on crypto and blockchain technology do not base your decisions on false narratives about crypto like that of the CBN
- Follow crypto influencers on social media to stay updated
- Learn more on how Peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading works
- Learn how to trade cryptocurrencies
- Take a leap into the future like Tesla and other institutional clients by investing in crypto
In our next article I will publish an introductory article on how to trade cryptocurrencies directly peer-to-peer (P2P) on OkEx exchange and withdraw your Naira to your bank account.