Economy
CBN Moves to Formally Legalise Crypto Currency in Nigeria
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Deputy Director/Head, Payments System Policy and Oversight at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Musa Jimoh, has disclosed that the apex bank has commenced arrangement to introduce a digital currency in the country a move to key into the global adoption of Crypto currency initiative.
According to Guardian, the apex bank executive made this disclosure at the Crypto currency conference held recently in Lagos.
Mr Jimoh was quoted to have said at the event that, CBN cannot stop the tide of waves generated by the blockchain technology and its derivatives.
“Currently, we have taken measures to create four departments in the institution that are looking forward to harmonise the white paper on Crypto currency.”
Crypto currency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency, and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.
Before now, the CBN had been wary to adopting digital currency until it had concluded assessment on its transaction methodology, especially as it has been said that “decentralised crypto currencies such as bitcoin now provide an outlet for personal wealth that is beyond restriction and confiscation.”
Speaking on the development, President of Information Security Society of Nigeria (ISSAN), Dr David Isiawe, said: “The reality that is before us today, particularly in Nigeria, is that the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), blockchain and Crypto currency are facts that we must face, whether we like it or not. We cannot wish this reality away.
“It is made worse when we realise that we are still grappling with current challenges of e-commerce and other electronic payment systems but technology development and advancements are not waiting.
“The impact of the emergence of blockchain and Crypto currency will be felt in the nation just as in the global community.
“Nigerian must be proactive rather than reactive by considering how these technologies would affect and influence our lifestyles and business operations and channel, and thus fashion our rules of engagement for their adoption.”
Mr Isiawe also admonished prospective investors to be careful investing in Crypto currencies, as every investment has its share of risks.
The conference tagged: “Learning to Glow with the Flow,” also served as the debut of a new coin, Corion.
Highlighting the coin, the President, Corion Platform, Ida Frauda, said: “Crypto currency is a currency that allows parties to exchange value. Unlike gold, paper money and other means of payments, Crypto currency is digital and decentralised granting transactions to be made without intermediaries and giving the transactors control over their money.
“With the Corion, users have daily payments and value storage with a staple price, fair distribution of benefits, keys to the challenges to engage the majority in using Crypto currency on a daily basis, an ecosystem to get the financial benefits from merely being a user. They make transaction in multiple currencies, peer-to-peer exchange in a limitless market in the global market; make money from the daily coin release from the increasing number of users instead of speculation.”
For the conference organiser, Chimezie Chuta, Nigeria should create learning institutions to educate and engage the youths and make them relevant in this space.
He urged the youths to equip themselves with learning blockchain, as it is the technology of the future. “Any sector can be on it like the Internet, which will lead to a skill shortage. People should read online, and research as many firms are going to be requiring blockchain experts in their sphere.
“The blockchain technology can be used across boards like smart contract, e-voting, identity management, healthcare. We should not be sole users rather; we should harness our numerical strength in his space,” said.
The Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Digital Encode, Oluseyi Akindeinde, said crypto currency is the currency of the future. “This currency cannot be monopolized by any government or company. It allows transparency; the velocity of transactions can be monitored with the blockchain, as it cuts across borders of accounts with the use of Applications.”
Highlighting the use of blockchain for transactions, Akindeinde said: “The technology is not only used for Crypto currency, although, the naira can be on the blockchain just like some other countries, so instead of spending bitcoin, everyone can spend the naira and transfer from peer to peer without going to financial institutions. Nonetheless, it can be used for land registration, stock exchange. Everything that has value can be used on the blockchain.”
Speaking on the security of the blockchain, he said: “If the CBN places the naira on it, then they are securing it with the hashing power of the blockchain. Presently based on the design which has been in existence since 2009, the blockchain is hack-proof due to the encryption and cryptography technology.
“The reasons banks are prone to hack is because they are centralised. Blockchain is decentralised. It is located everywhere there is Internet, so except someone hacks the entire Internet, then they can hack the blockchain system.”
Source: Guardian
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.26 per cent growth was achieved by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday on the back of sustained bargain-hunting by investors.
This happened despite a pocket of profit-taking, with industrial goods losing 0.63 per cent and the energy index shedding 0.05 per cent.
But the insurance space increased by 2.02 per cent, the banking counter appreciated by 1.48 per cent, the commodity sector improved by 0.48 per cent, and the consumer goods segment rose by 0.03 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 383.71 points to 149,842.82 points from 149,459.11 points and the market capitalisation jumped by N244 billion to N95.525 trillion from N95.281 trillion.
The market breadth index remained positive after the bourse finished with 38 price gainers and 23 price losers, indicating a strong investor sentiment.
The quartet of First Holdco, Lasaco Assurance, Veritas Kapital, and Prestige Assurance gained 10.00 per cent to quote at N39.60, N2.75, N1.76, and N1.65, respectively, while Mecure Industries grew by 9.92 per cent to N50.40.
Conversely, Living Trust Mortgage Bank lost 10.00 per cent to close at N3.15, International Energy Insurance dropped 9.92 per cent to trade at N2.27, McNichols shrank by 6.90 per cent to N2.97, Omatek decreased by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, and Chams dipped by 6.41 per cent to N2.92.
The activity level witnessed a significant surge at midweek, with Ecobank trading 5.3 billion units for N168.7 billion.
Further, First Holdco sold 108.2 million units worth N4.2 billion, Sterling Holdings exchanged 87.3 million units valued at N606.2 million, FCMB transacted 74.3 million units worth N783.6 million, and Access Holdings sold 41.5 million units for N841.4 million.
At the close of trades, market participants traded 5.9 billion units valued at N216.2 billion in 25,205 deals compared with the 1.0 billion units worth N21.8 billion traded in 23,701 deals a day earlier, showing a rise in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 490.00 per cent, 891.74 per cent, and 6.35 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, December 17, by N3.67 or 0.25 per cent, closing at N1,455.49/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1,451.82/$1.
Also, the local currency weakened against the Euro in the official market at midweek by 98 Kobo to close at N1,706.72/€1 versus the previous session’s price of N1,705.74/€1, but improved against the Pound Sterling by 75 Kobo to trade at N1,943.28/£1 compared with the N1,943.98/£1 it traded a day earlier.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency lost N3 against the greenback to finish at N1,463/$1 versus N1,460/$1 and in the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,475/$1.
Thin US dollar inflows from exporters, non-bank corporate, foreign portfolio investors and absence of immediate intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen supply triggered fresh pressure.
This is coming off the back of decline in inflows through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market which decreased to $716.3 million last week from $844.70 million in the previous week , a 15 per cent drop in a week.
The intervention comes as the CBN expect inflows from Detty December to alleviate need for FX demand, but exorbitant local prices may be keeping spending at bay.
Regardless of the seasonal demand, positive FX support for the local currency through 2025 signals a deliberate action to ensure the local currency maintains the trading range amidst growing external reserves. Latest data showed that gross external reserves position advanced to $45.47 billion, reflecting a 11.2 per cent Year-to-Date (YTD) gain.
In the cryptocurrency market, there was selling pressure as traders liquidated positions amid a short-rally, leading Litecoin (LTC) to slip by 5.2 per cent to close at $75.12m, as Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.0 per cent to $0.3619, and Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 4.8 per cent to finish at $0.1247.
In addition, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.7 per cent to $1.83, Solana (SOL) crashed by 4.1 per cent to $122.62, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 3.9 per cent to $2,826.62, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 3.4 per cent to $833.07, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.5 per cent to sell at $86,436.66, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil prices rallied by more than 1 per cent on Wednesday after the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, ordered a blockade of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela.
Brent crude settled at $59.68 a barrel after chalking up 76 cents or 1.3 per cent, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded at $55.94 a barrel, up 67 cents or 1.2 per cent.
Mr Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned tankers heading to or departing from Venezuela, the latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government, targeting its main source of income.
At least 34 US-sanctioned oil tankers with a history of carrying Venezuelan oil are currently at sea in the Caribbean.
Oil market participants said prices were rising in anticipation of a potential reduction in Venezuelan exports, although they were still waiting to see how Trump’s blockade would be enforced and whether it would extend to include non-sanctioned vessels.
The country, which is a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has produced around 900,000 barrels of crude oil and condensate so far in 2025, accounting for roughly 1 per cent of the total global supply.
Venezuela could lose up to 500,000 barrels per day of its oil production, according to Reuters estimates. China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, which accounts for roughly 4 per cent of its imports, with shipments in December on track to average more than 600,000 barrels per day.
While many vessels picking up oil in Venezuela are under sanctions, others transporting the country’s oil and crude by way of Iran and Russia have not been sanctioned.
Crude oil inventories in the US decreased by 1.3 million barrels during the week ending December 12, after losing 1.8 million barrels in the week prior, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday.
The EIA’s data release follows figures by the American Petroleum Institute (API) that were released a day earlier, which suggested that crude oil inventories fell by a massive 9.2 million barrels.
For total motor gasoline (petrol), the EIA reported that inventories had increased by 4.8 million barrels, on top of the 6.4 million barrel gain in the week prior. For middle distillates, inventories increased by 1.7 million barrels, with production easing by 228,000 barrels daily to an average of 5.2 million barrels daily.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
11 Comments