Share this article

Nigeria's Central Bank Orders Banks to Close Accounts of All Crypto Users

Any breaches of the order would face "severe regulatory sanctions," the central bank warned.

By Tanzeel Akhtar

Updated Dec 10, 2022, 8:00 p.m. Published Feb 5, 2021, 2:52 p.m.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered all banks to close any accounts transacting with cryptocurrencies.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today. See all newsletters

By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

The CBN said it was reminding regulated banking institutions that "dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges is prohibited."
As such, all banks should "identify persons and/or entities" transacting with cryptocurrency or operating crypto exchanges on their platforms and "ensure that such accounts are closed immediately."
Any breaches of the order would face "severe regulatory sanctions," the order states.
The CBN letterhttps://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2021/CCD/Letter%20to%20All%20Banks%20on%20Crypto%20Currency.pdf is signed by Bello Hassan, Director of Banking Supervision, and dated Feb. 5.

Nigeria Closures CoinFlash

Tanzeel Akhtar

Tanzeel Akhtar has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes Africa, Financial Times, The Street, Citywire, Investing.com, Euromoney, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga, Kitco News, African Business Magazine, Hedge Week, Campden Family Office, Modern Investor, Spear's Wealth Management Magazine, Global Investor, ETF.com, ETF Stream, CIO UK, Funds Global Asia, Portfolio Institutional, Interactive Investor, Bitcoin Magazine, CryptoNews.com, Bitcoin.com, The Local, The Next Web, Mining Journal, Money Marketing, Marketing Week and more. Tanzeel trained as a foreign correspondent at the University of Helsinki, Finland and newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She holds a BA (Honours) in English Literature from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and completed a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is NCTJ Qualified - Media Law, Public Administration and passed the Shorthand 100WPM with distinction. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.