The Stakeholders in Blockchain Association of Nigeria (SiBAN) has listed ways Nigeria could benefit from the impending crypto boom in the global market under a pro-crypto U.S. President, Donald Trump.
The President of the Association, Mr. Obinna Iwuno, in a statement shared with Nairametrics on Tuesday, said Nigerian regulators would need to take urgent actions on these steps to avoid losing value to foreign markets.
According to him, actions to be taken by Nigeria include:
- Prioritizing regulatory clarity and policies on cryptocurrency
- Developing a national Bitcoin strategy and action plans
- Exploring the possibility of trading a Nigerian-issued Bitcoin ETF in the capital market
- Creating stablecoins backed by Naira
The hope of a crypto boom under Trump
Highlighting some of the factors that would make cryptocurrency adoption grow globally, the SiBAN President noted that President Trump is the first pro-crypto and pro-Bitcoin president of the United States.
“This is very important and impactful because of the position that the US occupies globally as the technological powerhouse of the world, the most powerful nation on earth, and the owner of the global reserve currency – the USD.
“Trump’s open stance in support of Bitcoin is a green light signal for the ecosystem globally. Trump did not only declare his support for Bitcoin, he made some very important statements like planning to sack the current SEC chairman and replacing him with a pro-crypto SEC chairman.
“He wants all the Bitcoin in the world to be mined in the US and he wants the US to become the holder of the largest amount of Bitcoin globally,” Iwuno said.
Future of crypto
Based on the stance of the new U.S. President, Iwuno projects growth and bigger adoption, adding that the U.S. might become the number one crypto country in the world.
- He added that more crypto companies would arise, more investments would go into the crypto space.
- He also forecasts that there would be more institutional interest and a complete integration of the banking industry into crypto.
- He added that Nigerians trading crypto would also make profits, while they would be able to hedge against the current inflation and economic downturn.
“Several big wins that we are expecting from Trump walking his talk on crypto as the US president are regulatory clarity from the US which will enable the environment, and ultimately will be copied globally.
“We also expect an increase in the usage and dominance of stablecoins, and the amount of reserves held in stablecoins, and also the development of more stablecoins like smaller units that the fraction will be backed up 1:1 on cents instead of dollars. This will help more low-income countries.
“We hope to see more countries add Bitcoin to their balance sheet like Elsavador if the US adds Bitcoin to their national reserve,” he said.
What you should know
Despite the negative posture of the Nigerian authorities toward crypto trading, many Nigerians have continued to transact with digital assets.
Several reports on global crypto trading have recognized Nigeria as one of the top countries trading in cryptocurrencies all over the world.
However, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August this year took its first bold step towards the regulation of crypto in the country as it granted an Approval-in-Principle to two crypto exchanges Quidax and Busha, giving them the status of legally recognized crypto trading platforms in the country.
