Nigeria Will Adopt Blockchain, Cryptocurrency If I’m Voted President – Atiku

Former Vice President and 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has revealed his plans to open Nigeria’s economy to the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry if elected president in 2019.

Atiku made this known in his ‘Get Nigeria Working Again’ policy document that was released on Sunday by his presidential campaign organization.

The former Vice President identified the creation of “a comprehensive policy on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies” as one of the ways he intends to build a knowledge-based economy that will be powered by ICT.

He said through the enhancement of “ICT literacy initiatives from early school programmes to adult education,” the entrepreneurial spirit of the Nigerian youths can be roused.

Meanwhile, according to Investopedia, “A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security.” It is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency which are usually decentralized based on blockchain.

Wikipedia defines blockchain as “a decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the consensus of the network.”A block on the blockchain usually stores information such as time date, time and the amount about the user’s most recent transaction.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in March this year warned Nigerians against trading or investing in cryptocurrencies, saying “virtual currencies are not legal tender in Nigeria”.

The CBN had warned that virtual currency transactions were susceptible to criminals, money launderers and terrorists, amongst others; because the transactions are “largely untraceable” and that the trading platforms are usually not regulated.