尼日利亚中央银行发布警告 反对银行使用比特币_布谷新金融

作者：Yomi Kazeem  译者：吕林倩  文章转载自：未央网

虚拟货币可能成为未来金融的希望，但尼日利亚中央银行（CBN）似乎更想使用实体货币。

非洲最大经济体尼日利亚的中央银行在分发的通告中警告当地金融机构，反对在商业中使用类似比特币的虚拟货币，因为虚拟货币“不是尼日利亚的合法货币”。CBN称交易或兑换数字货币的银行将要自行承担风险。Ripples、Monero、Litecoin、Dogecoin及Onecoin等虚拟货币同样在警告名单中。

CBN发布的警告与1月5日中国人民银行发布的公告类似，公告提醒注意比特币交易风险。受中国人民银行公告影响，市场对比特币信心受挫，比特币价格大跌。

中国中央银行发布风险公告，2017年比特币价格变化

中国似乎担忧比特币的使用会妨碍国家中央管理，同样CBN也引用了犯罪分子、恐怖分子可能利用比特币这一点。因为交易“匿名、难以追踪”，CBN认为虚拟货币交易“极易被犯罪分子利用，尤其是洗钱及金融恐怖”。

如果数字货币交易公司倒闭或关闭交易，极有可能损失金钱，基于这点，CBN称“需要（对虚拟货币）指导，以保证尼日利亚金融系统的完整性”。CBN已经为当地金融机构进行数字货币交易拟定了保护性措施，包括保证有效控制洗钱行为，通报可疑交易，“叫停可疑交易”。

南非经济研究所研究员Nonso Obikil称CBN的担心是“合理的”，他说中央银行的措施正当合法。 Obikili表示：“尤其考虑到匿名性，虚拟货币会带来金融恐怖主义威胁，也会导致其他违法行为。”

但和中国类似，CBN主要担忧洗钱及国家安全。CBN的此次警告声明看起来不过是资本控制的托词。因长期美元短缺，尼日利亚早已开始使用比特币及其他虚拟货币作为替代，进行外币交换。数字货币交易商NairaEx证实了这一说法：越来越多的尼日利亚人意识到比特币在汇款、投资及其他金融领域中的作用，过去几个月里，比特币交易量显著上升。”

CBN对接受某些赚钱机制可疑的虚拟货币同样谨慎，如MMM是一种在尼日利亚非常流行的俄罗斯庞氏骗局，有超过200万名参与者。上个月被叫停后引起了社会恐慌。MMM与参与者建立了返还机制，即通过比特币赚钱接受返现。

Obikili同样赞成中央银行对虚拟货币的立场，即虚拟货币“可能与CBN现行资本控制手段漏洞相关”。尼日利亚银行卡无法在境外持续使用，Obikili说数字货币“成为了切实的第二选择”。

不像尼日利亚中央银行，其他非洲国家对数字货币更加欢迎。2015年末，突尼斯使用区块链技术使国家货币数字化。临近尼日利亚的西非国家塞内加尔宣布今年将使货币数字化。这种数字货币被称为eCFA，被认为将通行大部分西非法语区。

但从长久来说，除却CBN如今的举动，Obikili认为央行将会有更多灵活的政策，允许探索金融技术。他认为：“如果未来的金融就是这样，那么你会希望你的金融行业也能够到达那里，而不是追着事实跑。”

Virtual currencies may be the promise of the future of finance, but the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) seems to prefer to keep things real.

In a circular distributed on Friday, the apex bank of Africa’s largest economy warned local financial institutions against doing business in virtual currencies like bitcoin as they “are not legal tender in Nigeria.” Banks who trade and exchange digital currencies do so at their own risk, CBN said. It also included Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Onecoin in its warning.

The warning by CBN is similar to notices issued by the People’s Bank of China on Jan.5 about the risks of trading in bitcoin. As a result of the warning from China, confidence in bitcoin was rocked, resulting in a sharp dip in value.

Bitcoin price in 2017 as China's central bank warned of its risks

While China appears to be worried about bitcoin being used to avoid the country’s capital controls, for its part, CBN cites the possibility of exploitation by criminals and terrorists. With transactions “largely untraceable and anonymous”, CBN claims virtual currency transactions are “susceptible to abuse by criminals, especially in money laundering and financing of terrorism.”

Given the risk of loss of money if digital currency exchange companies collapse or shutter operations, CBN says there is a “need for guidance to protect the integrity of the Nigerian financial system.” As such the apex bank has drawn up a procedural guide for local financial institutions trading in digital currencies, including ensuring effective money laundering controls and reporting suspicious transactions, “pending substantive regulation.”

Describing the CBN’s concerns as “valid,” Nonso Obikili, research associate at Economic Research Southern Africa, says the central bank’s measures can be justified. “There are significant risks around terrorism financing and other illicit flows with virtual currencies, especially due to the anonymity,” Obikili told Quartz.

But while the CBN suggests money laundering and national security as its main concerns, just like in China, the warning is seen as a pretext for capital controls. Given a prolonged dollar shortage, Nigerians have began exploring bitcoins and other virtual currencies as a workaround to access foreign exchange. NairaEx, a digital currency trader, corroborates this reality. “Trading has increased significantly in [the past] few months as more Nigerians realized the potentials of bitcoin for remittance, investment and other types of financial instrument,” a NairaEx rep told Quartz via email.

CBN is also likely wary of the adoption of virtual currencies by the controversial money-making schemes such as MMM, a popular Russian Ponzi offer with over two million participants in Nigeria. Having caused panic after suspending operations last month, MMM has launched a comeback with participants now able to make and receive payments through bitcoin.

Obikili also agrees the apex bank’s stance on virtual currencies “might be related to a loophole which is currently being used to get around the CBN’s capital controls.” With Nigerian bank cards not working consistently outside the country, Obikili says digital currencies “have become a real alternative.”

Unlike Nigeria’s Central Bank, other African countries have been more welcoming of digital currencies. In late 2015, Tunisia digitized its national currency using blockchain technology. Closer to Nigeria, fellow West African nation Senegal has announced plans to digitize its currency this year. The eCFA, as the digital currency will be called, is expected to be used across most of Francophone West Africa.

Regardless of the CBN’s current motives though, long-term, Obikili advocates more flexibility by the apex bank to allow for exploring financial technology. “If the future of finance is there then you want your financial industry to be there as well, not to play catch up after the fact,” he told Quartz.