Urgent Need for Crypto Regulation in Nigeria Emphasized by Expert

• Many activities in Nigeria’s crypto realm go unchecked due to the absence of legislation.
• Owonibi stressed the need for compliance experts employed by Nigerian financial institutions.

Cryptocurrency regulation is necessary to reduce financial crimes, particularly money laundering, says Adedeji Owonibi, Co-founder of A&D Forensics, a blockchain intelligence service provider in Nigeria.

At a Blockchain and Digital Forensics firm’s training for crypto compliance professionals on February 9th, Owonibi brought this up. He brought out the fact that many activities in Nigeria’s crypto realm go unchecked due to the absence of legislation.

He said:

“Nigeria should completely regulate cryptocurrency activities within the country and set out laws to that effect because if there is no law, there is no offense.”

Need of Compliance 

Owonibi clarified that the purpose of the compliance specialist training is to guarantee that banks follow all applicable laws when dealing with virtual asset service providers (VASPs), even though the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently reversed its crypto transaction ban, allowing banks to open accounts for VASPs.

During an interview, Owonibi stressed the need of compliance experts employed by Nigerian financial institutions in preventing the laundering of illicit cash. To prevent criminals from using banks and other financial institutions as a cover for money laundering and other illicit operations, compliance regulations are put in place to prevent such behavior.

Financial organizations were formerly prohibited by the central bank from maintaining client accounts with crypto service providers. The requirements for virtual asset providers to establish accounts were detailed in the instructions that were sent to all banks and financial institutions on December 22, 2023.

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