Nigeria’s central bank sets timeline for CBDC pilot launch

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will roll out the pilot project of the national digital currency (CBDC) by October 1, 2021. This was reported by Peoples Gazette.

During a regulator’s information-technology webinar, IT specialist Rakia Mohammed said that under the GIANT project they would deploy the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain.

Earlier, a CBN representative said that digital naira will complement cash. In the central bank’s view, the CBDC will be useful for citizens, the Nigerian economy and cross-border trade.

In September 2020 the Nigerian SEC classified cryptocurrencies as securities. In the same year the agency announced the development of a regulatory framework for digital assets and blockchain technology.

In February 2021, the CBN ordered commercial financial institutions to close accounts of companies working with cryptocurrencies. Later, the Nigerian Senate asked the central bank governor Godwin Emefiele to explain the introduced restrictions.

At the end of March, CBN spokesman Adamu Lamtek said that the regulator did not prohibit local residents from buying and selling Bitcoin, and the restrictions concerned only financial institutions.

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