The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has explained how the interference of the private sector and the opacity of cryptocurrency forced it to put an end to the growth of cryptocurrency in the nation.

Deputy Governor Economic Policy of the CBN Dr. Kinsley Obiora stated this in Abuja at the Business Session of the Fiscal Liquidity Assessment Committee (FLAC) retreat, organised by the CBN.

Obiora said members of the private sector, fearing that the CBN’s decision to print more money will lead to hyperinflation decided to create cryptocurrency as a response.

Over time the creators of cryptocurrency, he added, felt that central banks should not be left with the authority to do whatever they like with money.

Fearing that such a mindset might cause inflation and reduce the purchasing power of households, the CBN Obiora said responded to what he called “the good aspect of that change because a lot of people actually took to cryptocurrencies”.

Fed up with the antics of the cryptocurrency operators, Obiora said: “We kicked them out of our banking system because the opacity of the system is still a threat to financial system stability”.

According to Obiora: “When the central bank started reacting to COVID with what we call printing money and responding to the crisis, a lot of people in the private sector felt that printing of money could lead to hyperinflation and these private sector people decided to respond by creating cryptocurrencies.

“With the intensification of cryptocurrencies they felt that Central Bank cannot just be left with the authority to do whatever they like with money and that might cause inflation and reduce the purchasing power of households but again central banks needed to respond to what we might call the good aspect of that change because a lot of people actually took to cryptocurrencies”. (The Nation)