After Central Bank Devalues Naira by 5% Finance Minister Attributes Drop to ‘Market Forces’

Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed has denied widespread reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had sanctioned the devaluation of the local currency sometime in May 2021. Instead, she attributes the naira’s fall to the “volatility in the oil price.” Ahmed’s remarks come just a few weeks after the official naira exchange rate dropped … Read more

Nigerian Lawmakers Slam Naira Devaluation, Warn of Inflation Implications

Nigeria’s House of Representatives has moved a motion calling on the country’s central bank to end the continuing devaluation of the naira. In his unanimously adopted motion, House Representative Bamidele Salam warned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of the negative “implications of further devaluing the naira.” Lawmakers Slam CBN U-Turn The House’s warning follows … Read more

Nigerians Shun Local Currency— Seek to Protect Wealth From Inflation and Currency Depreciation with Foreign Currency

Nigerians are thought to be accumulating foreign currencies which they believe will protect their wealth from the naira’s volatility as well as the surging inflation. Further, as a research paper in a journal published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) found, Nigerians’ use of dollars exceeds IMF’s 30% threshold. Exchange Rate Volatility and Currency … Read more

IMF Representative of Nigeria Calls for Caution Over the Use of Cryptocurrencies

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative for Nigeria, Ari Aisen recently discussed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive that targets crypto entities. In remarks made during a special virtual press briefing, Aisen repeats some of the CBN’s claims that cryptocurrencies were being used “for illegal transactions such as money laundering and drug trafficking.” … Read more

Central Bank of Nigeria Denies It Has Placed New Restrictions on Cryptocurrencies — Uses Debunked Claims to Justify New Directive

Following the outcry over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest directive that targets cryptocurrencies, the institution has reaffirmed its stance with another statement. In the latest five-page document, the CBN insists that this directive is intended to protect the country’s financial system from the “risks” that are associated with cryptocurrencies. Debunked Claims Still, the central … Read more

Brazil Revenue Collector’s Data Shows Cryptocurrency Volumes Exceed $6 Billion Between January and September

Raw data from the Federal Revenue of Brazil (RFB) shows that crypto traded volumes in the country exceeded $6 billion between January and September this year. According to the data, bitcoin dominates as it accounts for over 80% of traded volumes. Still, other cryptos like bitcoin cash, dai, and dogecoin had significant volumes in the … Read more

Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Decries the Use of Parallel Exchange Rate as Citizens Switch to Crypto

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele says the embrace of the parallel market exchange rate by some professionals in that country is unfair and unfortunate. The CBN governor says the parallel foreign exchange market only accounts for a share of the market that does not exceed 5%. He also adds … Read more

Former Microsoft Engineer Says Nigerian Expatriates Are Using Bitcoin to Circumvent Country’s Overvalued Exchange Rate

A former Microsoft software engineer and co-founder of Buycoins Africa Tomiwa Lasebikan says some Nigerians expatriates are now using bitcoin to circumvent the country’s overvalued exchange rate when sending remittances. According to Lasebikan, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s fixed exchange rate of $1:380 is robbing recipients 20-30% of their remittance value each time they … Read more

Zimbabwe’s Battle To Control Currency Inadvertently Boosts Bitcoin Profile

Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economic situation is forcing authorities to sign off on some desperate and controversial decisions. Some of such decisions include the abrupt suspension mobile money as well as the recent designation of Zimswitch as a national payment switch. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Suspends Mobile Money Service Owned by banks, Zimswitch is the current payments … Read more

PR: Debut of USDD – A Stable Coin That Pays You Interest

USDD – The world’s first dollar-backed and interest-bearing stable coin, with interest payments every 24 hours, will be officially released on October 31st by 55 Global Markets. The USDD value is 100% supported by a US dollar reserve, funds are held in trust for the benefit of tokenholders by PrimeTrust as trustee, a third-party trust … Read more