The Central Bank of Nigeria shifted from banning cryptocurrency in 2021 to fully regulating it by 2025. This article traces the policy evolution, key turning points, and how Nigeria now leads Africa in crypto regulation.
When a central bank crypto ban, a government-backed financial authority blocking cryptocurrency use. Also known as crypto prohibition, it’s not just about blocking wallets—it’s about controlling money itself. Countries like Bangladesh and Tunisia have tried to shut down Bitcoin and Ethereum completely. But here’s the twist: in Bangladesh, over 3.1 million people still use crypto daily, mostly stablecoins, to send money home. The ban didn’t kill adoption—it made it secret.
These bans aren’t just about fear of decentralized money. They’re about control. When the Central Bank of Tunisia, the national authority that outlawed crypto in 2018 and punishes violators with jail time blocks crypto, it quietly runs its own blockchain experiments for government services. That’s not hypocrisy—it’s strategy. They want the tech without the freedom. Meanwhile, in Iraq, the Central Bank of Iraq, which has banned crypto since 2017 and is now pushing its own state-controlled digital currency is building a surveillance tool disguised as innovation. These aren’t random policies—they’re reactions to people choosing crypto because their banks failed them.
What happens when you ban something everyone wants? People find a way. In Nigeria, where banking is slow and expensive, peer-to-peer crypto trading hit $59 billion in 2024. In Bangladesh, traders risk prison time to move money through hidden exchanges. The CBN crypto ban doesn’t stop crypto—it turns it into a rebellion. And that’s why these stories matter. The posts below don’t just list rules. They show what’s really going on: the underground markets, the failed projects, the scams that bloom in the dark, and the few real tools people use to survive when banks won’t serve them. You’ll see how crypto bans backfire, how governments pretend to be in control, and how users outsmart them every day.
The Central Bank of Nigeria shifted from banning cryptocurrency in 2021 to fully regulating it by 2025. This article traces the policy evolution, key turning points, and how Nigeria now leads Africa in crypto regulation.