Cryptocurrency used for illegal transactions – Emefiele

The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, said on Tuesday cryptocurrency is majorly used for illegitimate transactions.

The CBN governor’ comment came three months after the apex bank clamped down on cryptocurrency transactions in the country.

The CBN had on February 5 directed deposit money banks to close accounts linked to cryptocurrency exchange in Nigeria.

Since the ban, Nigerians have had to use a peer-to-peer feature for Bitcoin transactions.

Emefiele said cryptocurrency transactions would not benefit everyone and cited the decline the digital asset had experienced since Tesla founder, Elon Musk, announced that the company would not receive Bitcoin for payment again.

He said: “Do you think that they would allow you to grow your cryptocurrency business to the second position if what is inside is the big deal that is going to profit everyone? It is not that simple.”

He warned Nigerians to be careful about the cryptocurrency market since Musk is skeptical about it.