March 17, 2021 It’s been over a month since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a communiqué prohibiting financial institutions from dealing with local cryptocurrency exchanges and ordering the shutdown of crypto traders’ accounts. As a result, cryptocurrency startups could no longer accept deposits or process withdrawals in the country. Mixed reactions have trailed the early February announcement. Some support the bank’s attempts to crack down on the opaque, volatile digital currency. Others question the goals of the policy, which has stifled the livelihood of young Nigerians who are using crypto to try to escape poverty and staggering unemployment. And many more players and stakeholders have excoriated the CBN’s inability to see digital currencies as a harnessable tool for economic growth.