Fintech CEO: Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo Signals Strategic Shift in Crypto Thinking

Last month, the Nigerian central bank banned banks from participating in transactions related to the purchase of cryptocurrencies, threatening regulatory sanctions. Soon after, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo urged the country’s central bank and SEC to find ways to regulate, rather than ban, cryptocurrencies, pointing out that the technologies surrounding cryptocurrency would support innovation throughout the economy.

 “The Central Bank continues to argue that cryptocurrencies are risky, a point which Osinbajo concedes,” noted Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus, a US-based developer of ultra-high-performance trading and surveillance technology that powers global equities, derivatives, and digital asset exchanges. “But, he stresses that such concerns are not reason enough to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

“In a speech to the country’s top bankers, Vice President Osinbajo said what I’ve been saying for years — the best path forward for cryptocurrencies is through commonsense regulation. Responsible regulation will help reduce risks and make it harder for bad actors to engage in malfeasance. In the end, though, the power of the technology behind cryptocurrencies makes it impossible to pretend as though they don’t exist,” Gardner said.

“There’s a role for regulation here and it is the place of our monetary authorities and SEC to provide a robust regulatory regime that addresses these serious concerns,” Osinbajo is quoted as saying, according to a Reuters report on the speech. “Cryptocurrencies in the coming years will challenge traditional banking, including reserve banking, in ways that we cannot yet imagine, so we need to be prepared for that seismic shift.”

As Nigeria’s own fiat currency remains weak, Bitcoin has continued to remain popular in Africa’s most populous nation. The digital currency has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past months, as institutional financial services firms and mainstream celebrity CEOs, including Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and Kevin O’Leary, showed signs of embrace.

“I don’t think Nigeria’s going to be doubling down on digital assets as we’ve seen China do, launching their own CBDC, anytime soon. However, Vice President Osinbajo’s position cannot be overstated. In a country where the central bank has declared war on cryptocurrencies, one of the most influential politicians has advocated for hitting the brakes on the ban. That’s meaningful. Not just in Nigeria, but it will have implications across the globe,” contended Gardner.

Modulus is known throughout the financial technology segment as a leader in the development of ultra-high frequency trading systems and blockchain technologies. Over the past twenty years, the company has built technology for the world’s most notable exchanges, with a client list which includes NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays, Siemens, Shell, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago.