The use of cryptocurrency known as bitcoin has continued to rise in Nigeria despite warnings by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that digital currencies are not legal tenders.

The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) disclosed this in its December 2019 edition of the ‘The Nigerian Banker’ released on Thursday.

“The CBN has also declared that digital currencies are not legal tender with naira as the sole legal tender. There are concerns on the use of other digital currency which is currently changing the global payment ecosystem.

“It was stated that in 2018, 41 percent of new users in bitcoins, a cryptocurrency, hailed from Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa,” the CBN report on digital currencies partly read.

“The CBN has to consider ways of applying its regulations to the new consumer behaviour of block chain and cryptocurrency as there are new infrastructure or payment gateways that allow online/offline merchants to receive other modes of payments from the regular fiat currency such as cryptocurrency.

“To improve recognition of credible e-commerce, the CBN can require payment gateways and merchant aggregators linked to an e-commerce site, to issue its merchants with a visible certification badge,” the report added.