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Nigeria To Lead Central Bank Digital Currency Soon

Nigeria is African crypto hub

The Nigerian Central Bank announced it would start the pilot of its central bank digital currency on October 1. The digital currency runs on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain.

This year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) appeared in the headlines for its anti-cryptocurrency measures many times. But, the company has raised its investment and research into crypto’s underlying tech, blockchain. Also, it has set a fixed date for the pilot project of its blockchain-powered Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

According to CBN, it will reportedly launch a pilot scheme for “GIANT” on October 1 – a CBDC project in progress since 2017. The project runs on the open-source blockchain Hyperledger Fabric.

As per reports, Rakiya Mohammed, CBN’s IT director, said the bank might conduct a proof-of-concept before the end of 2021. More so, with the motivations cited for the project, CBN said that a CBDC would be useful for macro and growth control, cross-border trade assistance, and financial inclusion.

CBN said that possible benefits could still extend further, extending from a higher ability for payments, improved tax revenue collection, better monetary policy transmission, and the facilitation of targeted social policies.

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Roland is a Public Relations & Communications guru with an immense passion for the blockchain and crypto industry. A fusion of his expertise and passion led to the dawn of Optimisus in 2020.