In Brief

Despite recent regulatory obstacles, Ray Youssef is hopeful about Nigeria's chances of retaining its position in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Even with the proposed hike in cryptocurrency registration fees, venture capitalists continue to see opportunity in Nigeria. According to Ray Youssef, CEO of NoOnes, a financial communication and P2P software, government restrictions on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms aim at limiting free market marketing may make it difficult for the services they can offer to gain traction.

In a recent report, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria suggested raising the registration fee for cryptocurrency exchanges from 30 million naira ($18,620) to 150 million naira ($93,000) in addition to proposing a revision to the regulations governing platforms that offer crypto services.

Youssef, the co-founder and former CEO of the defunct P2P exchange Paxful, stated in an interview with Cointelegraph that the rise is a call to action for the cryptocurrency "big boys" like Coinbase and other significant businesses to enter the Nigerian market. He underlined that exchanges in Nigeria that are prepared to give up P2P assistance can function well, and that the government wants to limit P2P services in order to address issues related to foreign exchange.

Exchanges have a significant challenge because this tactic contradicts the Nigerian crypto market's strong preference for peer-to-peer trade. Nevertheless, Youssef is still positive about Nigeria's chances of retaining its place in the ecosystem in spite of the current regulatory issues.

According to Youssef, the government should regard cryptocurrency stakeholders as partners and take advantage of the large number of P2P traders in Nigeria as a resource to learn how to use cryptocurrency to boost the country's economy.

Nigeria emerged as the world's largest peer-to-peer cryptocurrency market in 2021 when the Central Bank of Nigeria outlawed the purchase and sale of cryptocurrency by institutions. The Nigerian government removed the ban on cryptocurrency in 2021 in December 2023, allowing cryptocurrency exchanges to seek for licences in Nigeria.

Youssef made a comment regarding the recent collaboration between Gluwa and the Nigerian government to enhance the acceptance of the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira. He stated that the government could have introduced the CBDC in a different way by using it to boost regional economic growth, lending money to budding business owners, and enticing the younger generation to adopt it.

The Nigerian authorities and cryptocurrency exchanges have frequently clashed. After being singled out by the Nigerian government in February for criticism of cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance stopped utilising the naira on March 8. According to the volume of Google searches for "cryptocurrency" or "buy crypto," Nigeria was dubbed the nation most interested with cryptocurrencies in August 2022.