Central Bank of Nigeria bans all transactions in virtual currencies

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has banned Nigerian banks from all transactions in virtual currencies like bitcoin, onecoin and ripple.

CBN has passed a circular to inform all Nigerian banks that all transaction in bitcoin and other virtual currencies have been banned in Nigeria.

The circular signed by CBN’s director of financial policy and ‎regulation department, Kelvin Amugo, stated that the move was necessitated by money laundering and terrorism financing risks inherent in operations of virtual currencies.

The Central Bank therefore advised banks to ensure that they do not use, hold, and transact in virtual currencies.

CBN also warned the banks to ensure that existing customers that are virtual currency exchangers have effective AML/CFT controls that enable them to comply with customer identification, verification and transaction monitoring requirements.

The CBN directive is coming after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a warning against virtual currencies.