The central bank of Nigeria disputes the bogus allegations spread by the cryptocurrency press, claiming that it never ordered local banks to freeze customer accounts linked to unregulated cryptocurrency exchanges.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has denied claims that it gave local financial institutions orders to freeze customer accounts connected to unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges.

The public is advised to rely on the central bank's official website for "authentic information," as it confirmed in an X post that the circular that was circulated wasn't released by the regulator.

Preliminary reports state that the CBN directed banks to locate and seize consumer accounts using cryptocurrency exchanges, while also subjecting them to a six-month "Post No Debit (PND) instruction."

A list of exchanges not authorised to operate in Nigeria, including Bybit, KuCoin, OKX, and Binance, was also included in the reports.

On the CBN's official website, there are, however, as of this writing, no official instructions concerning the freezing of bank accounts associated with cryptocurrency transactions.

Over time, the CBN's position on bitcoin transactions has changed.

The bank announced a change in Nigeria's stance towards the cryptocurrency sector in late 2023 when it relaxed its earlier prohibition on cryptocurrency operations within the nation.

Later reports, nevertheless, indicated that the CBN is still deliberating over outlawing certain crypto exchanges to combat forex market manipulation and illicit fund movements.