Three Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria have been fined N800 million by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for breaking regulations prohibiting clients from trading in cryptocurrencies.
The three banks fined by the apex bank are Access Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC, and the United Bank for Africa Plc, according to a Bloomberg article released on Wednesday.
The sanctions, according to a circular, are part of the apex bank's efforts to ensure that banks follow an order to stop trading in cryptocurrencies because of the damage they pose to Nigeria's financial system.
The CBN released a circular in February 2021 that contained the directive.
Furthermore, the CBN ordered banks to close the accounts of two individuals and a firm in November for allegedly trading in cryptocurrency.
Despite these restrictions, according to Paxful, a Bitcoin marketplace, Nigeria has the highest volume of bitcoin transactions outside of the US.
According to Chainalysis, the country also has the highest proportion of retail consumers completing crypto transactions under $10,000.
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