Nigeria’s Union Bank Reportedly Warns Against Crypto Transactions

The Union Bank of Nigeria has reportedly cautioned against transactions in cryptocurrencies, according to a letter allegedly sent to its users and published Nov. 26 by Nairaland, an online community targeted at Nigerians.

Nairaland, the largest Nigerian online community with over 55 million Internet users, has published a letter reportedly from the Union Bank, which cited the Central Bank of Nigeria “advising that cryptocurrency is not a legal tender in Nigeria and has cautioned against transacting in them.” It also states:

“In order to guarantee the security of our customers’ funds, Union Bank will monitor accounts being used for cryptocurrency transactions and may impose restrictions including closure of such accounts.”

The Union Bank of Nigeria is commercially run, with its assets totaling $4.1 billion as of 2018. As of press time, the bank did not respond to a request for confirmation about the authenticity of the letter.

Back in this spring, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), a Nigerian financial agency, had already warned its citizens against cryptocurrencies, as “various government agencies in Nigeria have cautioned citizens on the new form of money,” including the CBN, as Cointelegraph reported Mar. 24

Meanwhile, last week, the presidential candidate of Nigeria’s leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar promised “to speed up the economy positively through blockchain and cryptocurrency,” Cointelegraph wrote Nov. 25.