Cryptocurrency has ended up being a red hot subject of the world at present. Whether it is Bitcoin to Ethereum and many others, individuals are transacting, selling, investing and even saving using these digital currencies.
Crypto has gained popularity especially among the youth in Nigeria that are seeking improved financial freedom.
However, as this popularity grows, governments across the world are in an attempt to regulate/even prohibit the use of crypto. That brings us to this big question: Can governments actually ban crypto? I will tell in this essay what crypto is, and why governments are afraid of it, and whether it is really possible to ban it.
In terms of my personal opinion, I would say that there are numerous reasons why certain governments aim at banning or limiting cryptocurrency.
The crypto does not operate subject to the directives of the central bank. As a case in point, Nigeria citizens may now use USDT (a stable coin) to store their cash without having to transact in naira. This implies that Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lesser power to regulate the economy.
And that is not all, due to the fact that crypto makes it possible to do anonymous transactions, some individuals use crypto to do illegal activities such as frauds, money laundering, or even financing terrorism.
The governments are terrified by such abuse. When individuals obtain profits through crypto and fail to raise tax, then the state will be losing. Most of crypto transactions are unreported, so it is difficult to trace income.
Besides, there are other nations that are afraid that when individuals decide not to use their currency anymore and they move towards the use of crypto, it can harm the worth of their money and even their whole economy.
So the million-dollar question is, can governments really prohibit crypto? The straight-forward answer is no, not entirely. Probably you would say, why did I say so? The cryptocurrencies are present on the decentralized network. This implies that no single server can be closed down. Even in case of blocking one platform, users have a chance to use others.
One can also hide their online location and trade using VPN. And that is not all because even assuming banks are prohibited to be in crypto, individuals can still trade directly to each other through P2P services. On the other hand, Binance P2P gained a lot of popularity in Nigeria following the CBN ban.
Among the things I now found out, I can mention the fact that People can have their crypto stored in personal wallets (such as Trust Wallet or MetaMask). Banks do not control them. The crypto in the wallet is not affected even when the government blocks the sites.
Crypto is international. It is possible that one country can prohibit it but other countries can positively permit it. Human beings have an opportunity to be able to connect to overseas websites and counterparts to trade.
To us in Nigeria crypto has actually become a lifeline. As prices of naira decreased and inflation increased, crypto became an instrument that Nigerian youths use to save their money and earn online. People devised clever methods to trade even though the government imposed bans on this activity.
Banning crypto would not be a good idea preferably our leaders could join hands with the people in developing safe, fair and strong systems. They are able to shield residents against scams, as well as enabling creativity and development. The economy can be assisted through crypto when done in a good manner.
In my opinion, although Governments might attempt to prohibit crypto, they can never put a stop to it. It is powerful, it is global, it is decentralized and that technology is too much. In the same way the internet and its related business could not be prohibited, so can crypto.
The best thing to do is not to fight it, but, having learned it, develop smart regulations. At least this can also be beneficial to the government and the people. Being a citizen of Nigeria, I think that we should adopt the future of money and create a nice system that suits everybody. Being invisible is not a problem, and the impact that Crypto causes is highly tangible, and it can never be stopped by banning.
