Moving the motion, Ibrahim said there is a growing global
concern about the national security implications of cryptocurrency transactions
through crypto exchanges, including consumer and investor security.
He noted that “these exchanges are said to enable money
laundering by criminals and terrorists from and for their illicit activities”.
The lawmaker said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had
raised concerns over the “likelihood” of illicit transactions and money
laundering on the cryptocurrency exchanges and their seeming use as an
alternative platform for determining local foreign exchange (FX) rates.
‘AN OUTRIGHT BAN NOT BEST’
“The conflict with the government about whether or not the
crypto exchanges are determining the local foreign exchange rate and usurping
the functions of the national bank does not appear to arise in other developed
climes where appropriate statutes and regulations have been enacted and
enforced to superintend crypto and other digital asset transactions,” Ibrahim
said.
“As is the case in other climes, the government’s close
collaboration with Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges is the best way
to elicit their support in tracking, identifying, and facilitating the recovery
of illicit and laundered funds on their platforms and assisting with the
appreciation of the value of the naira.
“Significant losses of foreign currency inflow to the
government’s coffers from the operation of international money transfer
operation (IMTO) payment gateway and platforms, utility sharing based platforms
etc. that would ordinarily have contributed to the appreciation of the value of
the naira have continued to subsist and should be curtailed.
“An outright ban by
the government of IMTO’S and others as was reported in the media might not the
best cause of action.”
The motion was unanimously adopted when it was put to a
voice vote by Benjamin Kalu, the deputy speaker who presided over the plenary.
Following that, the house resolved to investigate the
“current status of cryptocurrency, blockchain, digital asset transactions, all
the online peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace, international money transfer
operators, payment gateways and platforms, cloud computing, infrastructure
(networks), utility sharing based platforms and their practices in Nigeria to
identify threats to national security and gaps in legislative framework,
statutes, and regulations to the detriment of the country”.
The green chamber also resolved to engage all relevant
stakeholders to “initiate necessary processes for establishing required
legislation and regulations” for digital assets transactions.
Some cryptocurrency trading platforms, including Binance,
are currently under scrutiny by the federal government.
The government had alleged “illegal transactions” by Binance
in Nigeria, reportedly seeking retribution of at least $10 billion.
On March 5, Binance announced that all naira transactions on
its platform would be suspended from March 8, 2024.
