Governments Crypto Crackdown

With cryptocurrencies on the rise in recent weeks, in the past two days the world has seen governments initiating a crackdown on the digital currency. Beginning with Nigeria, India has followed suit in a string of bans targeting cryptocurrencies as a whole.

The Central Bank of Nigeria initiated the crackdown with a blanket banning of the cryptocurrency, with a directive where any accounts found to be transacting with cryptocurrencies are to be closed. This comes as Nigeria’s SEC looks into options to regulate the digital currencies.

In India, the government has sought to pass laws banning cryptocurrencies outright, despite recent speculation that there may be 18% tax for Bitcoin transactions. In 2018, the country’s Reserve Bank issued a directive banning all transactions, which was later lifted in March 2020 by the country’s supreme court.

With the recent surge in cryptocurrency values and large institutions such as Paypal, VISA, and Mastercard starting to accept cryptocurrencies, governments are looking for ways to regulate the digital currency.