Dr Yemi Cardoso Nigerian apex bank, Central Bank of Nigeria has released guidelines to safeguard the transactions of cryptocurrency by Deposit Money Banks and other Financial Institutions
Recall that recently, CBN Governor, Dr Olayemi Cardoso lifted the ban on the operation of cryptocurrency, which was imposed two years ago by the former Governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele.
The CBN in the new rule titled, ‘Guideline On Operation of Bank Account For Virtual Assets Service Providers(VASPs)’, said banks and other financial institutions are still prohibited from holding, trading, and/or transacting in virtual currencies on their own account.
The CBN said, “From the commencement of these Regulations, financial institutions shall not open or permit the operation of any account by any person or entity to conduct the business of virtual/digital assets unless that account is designated for that purpose and opened in line with the requirement of these Guidelines.
“An account opened by these Guidelines shall only be used for transactions on virtual/digital assets and not for any other purpose.
“No cash withdrawal shall be allowed from the account. No third-party cheque shall be cleared from the account.
“Except for settlement of a virtual/digital assets transaction which shall be done through a transfer to another designated account, the withdrawal shall be only through a Managers’ Cheque or transfer to an account.”
“All obligations arising from transactions within the VASP5/DAs entities platform shall be settled into the designated settlement accounts maintained by them in the banks.
“The designated settlement accounts shall warehouse all Naira positions of individuals with the VASPs/DAs. The designated settlement account, including any associated linked account for warehousing settlement monies, shall not be interest-based.
“The details of the transactions on the VASP platform leading to settlement on the designated settlement account shall be accessible online, on a real-time basis to the FIs at all times. Credit to the designated settlement account shall be for the funding of Naira positions of persons on the VASP/DAs platform.”
The CBN said any form of contravention of the rule would attract a penalty not less than N2m.
Category: World-News
Tag: CBN Unveils Guidelines for Cryptocurrency Transactions
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Published 1/3/2024 7:35:14 AM