newslogical.com
In its bid to sanitize the digital space, the Nigeria government is working on e-currency regulation that will bring clarity to the Bitcoin industry within the country.
Contained in a viral statement Tuesday, published by nearly all newspapers in the country, the country’s Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, indicated that the Ministry of Justice has tabled Bitcoin bills before the National Assembly. The provision if legalized will offer a legislative framework for anything digital currency in the country.
The disclosure was made by Malami in the country’s capital Abuja during a two in one session centered on capacity building and to relate with the judiciary correspondents.
The group of bills is focused on electronic banking, digital management, electronic evidence including cryptocurrency. The bill will give the Nigerian government the room to tap into the digital economy.
“The expected bills will prepare Nigeria for emerging realities relating to digital cash, Bitcoin and e-currency,” Malami said.
In July 2019, almost a year now, Speaker of the country’s House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, pronounced the need for crypto regulatory clarity to not fence the country out the innovative technology behind Bitcoin.
He mentioned that blockchain and cryptocurrency were “novel and coming up strong,” and Nigeria should not be left behind.
He reiterated that the topic of discourse at the G20 forum in Osaka, Japan was cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Interestingly, Gbajabiamila also said Nigerians traded about $12 million on a yearly basis on different cryptocurrency exchanges.
Nigerians are delving into cryptocurrency en mass. Recently, on Luno, Nigerians traded 2,550 Bitcoins in March. The same could be said for other platforms. On LocalBitcoins, around $2.7 million was traded by Nigerian in June.
All these attest to the growing demand for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Nigeria. Checking Google Trend, for the past 12 months, Nigeria tops the list of the countries where Bitcoin is being searched. This confirms that there is growing awareness on Bitcoin in the country.
Meanwhile, there are several scam crypto projects in Nigeria. Recently, the Stakeholders in Blockchain Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), a collective body of blockchain enthusiasts and regulators, flagged InkNation’s Pinkcoin a cryptocurrency scam that should be avoided by the society.
The organization had claimed before now that the digital currency is not registered with Nigeria’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and should be completely avoided by the populace.
Crypto now becomes the go-to among Nigerian freelancers fenced out of making impacts in the digital space due to the standard put in place by the likes of PayPal and some other payment platforms who observed that scammers from Nigeria make use of their platforms to rob people of their hard-earned income.