According to Cointelegraph: Nigeria's Central Bank's recent decision to lift the ban on cryptocurrency transactions is seen by Nigerian crypto exchange Yellow Card as an opportunity for greater legitimacy and deeper integration with the traditional financial sector.
Yellow Card's Chief Data Protection Officer and Vice President of Legal, Commercial and Product, Lasbery Oludimu, believes the move can help broaden their user base and foster a more regulated environment for crypto transactions.
In a recent Cointelegraph interview, Oludimu stated that the dominant peer-to-peer market, which persisted during the ban, will likely evolve with increased banking support, stimulating competition and innovation in Nigeria's crypto space.
She affirmed that Yellow Card anticipates a surge in cryptocurrency use in Nigeria, given the new guidelines and ban lift on crypto transactions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2024. This measure is expected to pave the way for a more structured, regulated environment for crypto operations.
"The CBN guidelines could foster collaboration with traditional financial institutions to explore opportunities in the crypto space," Oludimu said, foreseeing the potential for greater integration and cooperation between digital assets and traditional finance.
She perceived the CBN's decision as a marked progress towards innovation and a favourable environment for legitimate businesses, which could boost the crypto adoption rate in Nigeria and the broader crypto ecosystem.
On December 22, 2023, the CBN released guidelines allowing virtual assets service providers, including cryptocurrency and crypto-asset organisations, to open accounts with Nigerian banks. This revision sobers up the restriction imposed two years prior, prohibiting banks and other financial institutions from operating accounts for cryptocurrency service providers.
