Yet Behind Bars, Nigeria’s Bumper Crypto Market Needlessly Lies In Limbo

Back in 2009, when crypto first crept into the crevices of the world's financial rails, governments were wildly unsure how to respond or treat the new spawn off the money tree. By 2011 when Bitcoin came shoulder to shoulder with the American dollar [1 BTC = $1], it was evident that virtual currencies were indeed a potential replacement to government-controlled and centralized fiat. 

After countless leaps, bounds and rebounds in the cryptosphere—from the alternate coin dash to the mouth-watering epoch of ICOs—the reservations of governments towards cryptocurrencies started to crystallize. Getting off the fence and trashing the eggshells upon which they seemed to walk, national authorities began enacting assorted sanctions, heralding the rather early arrival of cryptocurrency bans.

In September 2021, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) outrightly outlawed cryptocurrency-based transactions, citing the role such highly speculative assets play in enabling high-profile financial misdeeds and [possibly] facilitating an estimated capital outflow of USD 50 B. Two months later, Russia—the world's third-largest Bitcoin mining capital—proposed a prohibition of not only mining activities but also general crypto use.