Not even one day has passed in March, we already seeing some negative attention against BTC and other cryptos. This time it is coming from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which has issued a warning against cryptocurrency investments.

The bank has made a press release warning residents and financial institutions that cryptocurrency investment are unprotected therefore they are super risky. These risks include possible bankruptcy and high market volatility. They went even more specific by stating that a Nigeria-based bitcoin trading platform (NairaEx) is not licensed or regulated by the Nigerian Bank. This is bad news for the users of the Nigerian exchange and potential local investors as it also indicates that the government could close down and confiscate the funds at any given time when they see it as a risk to the state. The website has 100,000+ users and has made 900,000+ transactions so far, so you could say that they have a growing community over there.

This is not the first time we read negative press from around there. Back in 2017 the Nigerian SEC has issued an announcement where they particularly advised domestic banks to distance themselves from digital assets. Even though with such negative press, LocalBitcoins in Nigeria has seen a dramatically increased interest from residents of the country according to CoinDance.