International Monetary Fund Tells Nigeria To Regulate Crypto Trading Platforms
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended on May 10 that Nigeria regulate crypto trading platforms amid the African nation’s detainment of two Binance executives, according to a United Nations Thursday staff report.
“Staff recommends that global crypto trading platforms be registered or licensed in Nigeria and subject to the same regulatory requirements applicable to financial intermediaries following the principle of same activity, same risk, and same regulation,” the report read.
Nigeria has been in a financial crisis in recent months, with its once-dominant economy expected to plummet to fourth place on the African continent.
IMF recommends registering, licensing global crypto trading platforms in Nigeria – https://t.co/0dbNEJ2bEl pic.twitter.com/ublzBVMyIe
— Nairametrics (@Nairametrics) May 10, 2024
Despite the country’s inflation hitting a near 28-year high, the IMF report stated that the country’s currency is beginning to steady.
“The naira depreciated sharply after the unification of the official foreign exchange windows in June 2023,” the IMF noted. “Following monetary policy tightening in February and March 2024 and a resumption of FX interventions, the naira has started to stabilize.”
Nigeria has been cracking down on digital assets recently. In the coming days, the country will ban peer-to-peer payment systems in hopes of preventing manipulation.
Some government officials have shifted the blame for the naira’s weakening to cryptocurrencies, with Nigerian Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso alleging in February that $26 billion worth of illicit funds shuffled through Binance Nigeria in 2023 alone.
“We are concerned that certain practices that go on that indicate illicit flows through a number
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