Nigeria cancels its plan to ban cryptocurrencies as the regulator wants to prevent cryptocurrency from being used to finance illicit activities, Business Insider reports, citing the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
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Speaking at the 279th MPR meeting, Emefiele said that the watchdog found out that a "substantial percentage" of Nigerians are getting involved in cryptocurrency:
"Do not get me wrong, some may be legitimate, but most are illegitimate. Under cryptocurrency and bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin), Nigeria comes second while on the global side of the economy, Nigeria comes 27th. We are still conducting our investigation, and we will make our data available."
Emefiele also cited Elon Musk's tweets as a trigger for bitcoin's volatility after the cryptocurrency lost over 10% due to Tesla's decision to stop payments in BTC. As iHodl earlier reported, Tesla decided to stop accepting bitcoin payments over concerns about the impact the largest by market capitalization cryptocurrency has on the environment.
In February this year, CBN issued an order to close all bank account of users, associated with cryptocurrency activity. According to the letter, the taken measures are focused on regulating crypto-related risks.
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