With the recent ban on crypto in Nigeria by the central bank, P2P crypto exchanges are becoming increasingly popular due to the suspension of financial services offered by banks to centralized crypto exchanges and further closure of their accounts.

While P2P crypto exchanges seem to be the new frontier, I would love crypto traders to rethink their strategies due to the following reasons:

1. The government ain’t youth friendly:

The present administration in Nigeria doesn’t have the best interests of youths. They keep going all out to frustrate the youths judging from their policies, abuse on youths by law enforcement officers, how the #EndSARS protest was handled, the recent ban on crypto by CBN, etc. In order to survive and still conduct our crypto trading despite the ban, we need to avoid anything that would put the government searchlights on crypto investors and traders in Nigeria.

2. The central bank wants total control:

Crypto and blockchain technology offers the possibility of a decentralized financial sector where nobody has total control but like other traditional financial organizations, the central bank of Nigeria wants total control. The recent crypto ban was just a way for the CBN to show they are in charge and still run this town like Jay z and Rihanna lol…

3. Banks and other traditional financial institutions don’t want competition:

Outside central banks, commercial banks are the second strongest institutions in the financial sector and they hate competition. Majority of the banks in Nigeria saw Crypto exchanges like Luno, Bitfxt, Buycoins and Binance as strong competitors that need to be pushed out. Immediately the letter was issued by the CBN, Access Bank closed Bitfxt corporate account. This shows the bad blood banks have for crypto exchanges. The ban could even be a sinister plot by some banks, because Nigerians were beginning to withdraw their cash deposits to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum to hold, since it gives better returns than any investment packages offered by banks.

So our cooperate accounts have been wiped and closed by our host bank. This is really not the way forward #Nigeria.

SMH

— Franklin Peters (Blockchain Oracle) (@F_Peterz) February 10, 2021

4. Scam exchanges will flood the market:

P2P crypto exchanges are beginning to flood the Nigerian crypto market of which I strongly believe 95% are outright scams. While we are still engaging stakeholders, regulators and the government on the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies, scam P2P crypto exchanges will be another redline that will further dent the image of cryptocurrency in Nigeria.

Most older Nigerians believe crypto is used for illegitimate activities and these scam exchanges will only validate that. Every Okon, Musa, Bayo, Chima are now advertising P2P crypto trading platforms… Guys be kiaful!!! 👀

Recommendations

1. Stick to known exchanges: since the ban took effect and Luno stopped processing Naira deposits and withdrawals. I have been selling my crypto peer-to-peer (P2P) on OKEx exchange with the naira sent directly to my bank account. While there’s been a rise in Nigerian owned P2P crypto trading platforms, please I would advise you to completely stay away from them.

This is not a time to show how patriotic you are as a Nigerian, stay away from Nigerian owned P2P crypto exchanges but trade on the well-known platforms like OkEX and Binance, offering P2P services for now. Yesterday someone tried to pull a scam on me while trading P2P on OkEx, he didn’t initiate a bank transfer to my bank account but clicked he has paid and reported me immediately that I haven’t confirmed his payment and released his crypto. Imagine what fraudulent individuals like this will do on unknown Nigerian P2P crypto platforms…

2. Do not include any crypto related term in your bank transfer description when dealing P2P

3. Avoid publicity: The recent hype on P2P crypto trading platforms in Nigeria will take us back to square one. The government can send agents to infiltrate P2P trading platforms, close bank accounts and you may risk losing your funds or having a jail time. Please while we trade P2P in Nigeria, lets avoid making noise about it because the central bank and government are watching.

A word is enough for the wise….