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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have long been a topic of debate and regulatory scrutiny worldwide, and Nigeria has been no exception.

In February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular to deposit money banks (DMBs), non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), and other financial institutions (OFIs) to close accounts of persons or entities involved in cryptocurrency transactions within their systems.

The CBN further warned local financial institutions against dealing in crypto-assets or facilitating payments for crypto exchanges.

The apex bank cited concerns over money laundering, terrorism financing, cybercrime and the volatility of cryptocurrencies as reasons for the ban.

The directive received significant backlash from the Nigerian public and the cryptocurrency community, as many saw it as a hindrance to technological advancement and economic growth.

However, just two years later, the government has taken a surprising turn by introducing taxation on cryptocurrencies.

Here is a timeline of major events in the two-year period that shaped the evolution of Nigerias stance on cryptocurrencies.

February 5,2021: CBN directs banks to close accounts of persons or entities involved in cryptocurrency transactions within their systems.

February 9, 2021: CBN launches investigation into financial institutions offering services to cryptocurrency traders.

February 11, 2021: The senate invites the CBN, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to discuss opportunities and threats of cryptocurrency on Nigerias economy and security.

February 18, 2021: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) backs CBN, says cryptocurrencies may be used for illegal activities.

February 22, 2021: The SEC says there is a need to regulate cryptocurrencies.

February 26, 2021: Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria, calls for a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies rather than an outright ban.

March 21, 2021: The CBN clarifies its position on the ban and states that individuals are not prohibited from buying and trading crypto, just not through any Nigerian bank or fintech.

April 15, 2021: SEC says discussion is ongoing with the CBN over the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

April 26, 2021: The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) warns Nigerians to be cautious before investing in Bitcoin.

July 22, 2021: The CBN announces plans to launch the eNairaa central bank digital currency (CBDC) which is quite different from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

October 25,2021: Nigeria becomes first African nationto launch a digital currency the eNaira.

April 7, 2022: CBN hits six banks with a N1.3 billion fine over alleged non-compliance with its regulation on accounts of cryptocurrency traders.

May 15, 2022: The SEC recognises digital assets as securities and issues regulations on exchange and custody of cryptocurrencies in the country.

INTRODUCTION OF TAXATION ON CRYPTOCURRENCY

The federal government surprised many by announcing its decision to tax cryptocurrencies.

The government said it recognised the growing adoption and economic significance of digital assets and aimed to harness their potential for revenue generation.

By doing so, Nigeria joins the league of jurisdictions currently taxing digital assets, including the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, India, Kenya and South Africa.

December 2, 2022: Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, says there is a provision to tax cryptocurrency and other digital assets in the latest finance bill.

May 28, 2023: President Muhammadu Buhari signs the 2023 finance bill into law. The law introduces a 10 percent taxation of gains on the disposal of digital assets including cryptocurrency. The law is effective as of May 1, 2023.

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TIMELINE: From ban to taxation FG's journey to cryptocurrency ... - TheCable

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) sensation ChatGPT has garnered recognition for its versatile capabilities in accurately tackling various tasks. Among many other things, this powerful tool also has the potential to be utilized in the field of trading by providing insights into potential price movements for diverse assets within the market.

Having said that, Finbold asked ChatGPT to share its predictions for Bitcoins (BTC) potential price by the end of 2023, based on metrics such as technical analysis (TA), historical price action, and other popular metrics.

While the chatbot stressed that predicting BTCs future price is inherently uncertain due to it being influenced by a number of factors, it also outlined why the leading cryptocurrency could appreciate in value in the coming years.

Notably, OpenAIs chatbot tool listed increased adoption, institutional involvement, halving events, and market sentiment and speculation as key drivers that could propel BTC by the end of 2023.

As Bitcoin continues to gain acceptance and adoption among individuals, institutions, and even governments, it may result in increased demand and potentially drive the price higher.

Meanwhile, CoinPriceForecast, a widely-used price prediction tool, was quite bullish on Bitcoins price in the coming years. The forecast website predicts BTC to hit $35,085 by the end of 2023, implying a potential upside of more than 30%. Notably, this is over $2,000 more than the price prediction retrieved back in February.

For 2024 and 2025 year-end, the tool estimates Bitcoin to reach $40,290 and $44,766, respectively.

At press time on Friday, May 19, Bitcoin was trading at $26,845, down 1.95% on the day. Over the past week, the worlds biggest crypto coin advanced around 1.88%. Still, BTCs gains since the start of 2023 remain significantly high, up more than 61%.

Earlier this week, crypto analyst Michal van de Poppe pointed out a certain must-hold support zone that Bitcoin to prevent a notable price crash.

Specifically, the expert said that BTC has to remain in the range between $26,800 and $27,000, as failure to do so could push the cryptocurrency below $26,000 for a potential bullish divergence.

Disclaimer:The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.

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We asked ChatGPT what will be Bitcoin price end of 2023; Here's what it said - Finbold - Finance in Bold

Pakistan will ban cryptocurrency services operating in the country and never legalize crypto trading, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha said at a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on May 16, according to multiple local media reports. Other officials, including State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Director Sohail Jawad, spoke in favor of the decision.

Pasha said banning crypto was one of the requirements set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which removed Pakistan from its gray list in October. The gray list contains countries the body considers deficient in Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing measures but that are working with it to remedy their shortcomings.

The SBP and the Information and Technology Ministry were drafting the legislation for the ban, according to reports.

Related: Pakistan's president calls for more training in blockchain technology

The Pakistani Crypto Twitter community unleashed a frenzy of disapproval of the coming crypto ban. I pray that government focuses on the right area which lead to scams and the apps which traps people instead of banning crypto, Daniyal Azamwrote. People are making handsome income with crypto trading and Govt want to take this last hope from Poor People of Pakistan, Crypto Arenasaid.

FATF cannot impose sanctions on non-compliant countries, but its findings are likely to influence government and corporate policies worldwide. Pakistans economy is in deep crisis, and it is currently engaged in tense bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, so a clean report from the FATF may be a political priority.

Crypto adoption in the country has been relatively high, with Pakistani citizens reportedly holding $20 billion worth of crypto in 2021. Government opposition to crypto is not new, however. The SBP has reportedly been seeking a crypto ban since at least January. Pakistan does, however, have plans to launch a central bank digital currency in 2025 and recently adopted a national blockchain Know Your Customer platform.

Magazine: Rogue states dodge economic sanctions, but is crypto in the wrong?

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Pakistani finance minister says crypto will never be legal because of FATF - Cointelegraph

CHEYENNE, WY / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2023 / Cryptographic protocols that secure networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum are - for the time being - impervious to even the most advanced computers. However, imagine a near-future scenario where computers have advanced to such a level that current cryptographic standards become insufficient.

The Quantum Resistance Corporation, Friday, May 19, 2023, Press release picture

This potential danger arises from quantum computers, a cutting-edge technology that has the potential to compromise many of the encryption protocols used in cryptocurrencies today. Although quantum computers are in their infancy and not yet powerful enough to do so, experts predict that, if current trends continue, they could threaten blockchain networks by 2030.

Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL) aims to address this doomsday threat as the world's first post-quantum store of value and decentralized communication network to proactively tackle the threat of advanced quantum computing. The following article will deep dive into the nature of the quantum threat, and explain how QRL could be positioned to transform the industry by providing a post-quantum solution.

Before delving into how QRL offers a solution to the quantum threat to cryptocurrency, it is important to understand how quantum computers work and the current risks associated with popular blockchains such as Ethereum and Bitcoin.

Quantum computers are a type of supercomputer with far superior processing power than classical computers. They are able to carry out many computations while simultaneously considering several different configurations - this makes them exponentially faster than traditional computers.

Over the past few years, quantum computing has shown significant progress in various fields, including AI, weather forecasting and medical research. However, in the wrong hands, quantum computing has the potential to pose a substantial risk to cybersecurity, and consequently, to cryptocurrencies as well.

Story continues

For example, Google's 54-qubit Sycamore processor completed a computation in 200 seconds that would have taken the most powerful classical computer in the world 10,000 years. According to a report by IBM, in theory, cryptographic protocols can be solved within a few hours with quantum computers.

Broadly speaking, traditional cryptocurrencies face two primary types of threats, which are:

Storage Attacks: An attack that targets individual wallet addresses, trying to break their security and steal the cryptocurrency stored in them.

Transit Attacks: An attack that focuses on taking control of all transactions happening in real-time on the network.

Bitcoin and Ethereum, the world's two largest cryptocurrencies, account for almost 60% of the industry's total market capitalization. Bitcoin as an asset functions like digital gold, providing a decentralized, immutable and secure store of value. Conversely, Ethereum is like a publicly shared computer network that enables developers to create applications on decentralized servers.

When it comes to storage attacks, Ethereum is at a higher risk than Bitcoin. A recent Deloitte study revealed that about 65% of all Ether is vulnerable to quantum attacks, significantly more than the 25% of vulnerable Bitcoin.

Transit attacks, though more severe, are also more challenging to execute. According to Mark Webber at the University of Sussex in the U.K., breaking this level of encryption would reportedly require a quantum computer with 1.9 billion qubits of power.

This number is staggering, especially when compared to IBM's most advanced quantum computer, which has only 127 qubits in comparison. Ethereum's creator, Vitalik Buterin, tweeted in 2019 that current speculations about quantum computing are as distant from real quantum computing as hydrogen bombs are from nuclear fusion. But rapid advancements in AI-assisted technology could be changing the outlook and accelerating the quantum timeline.

Traditional cryptographic methods such as RSA and elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) rely on computational complexity for security. However, this model is an ineffective long-term solution since quantum computers can solve these methods. QRL says it solves this vulnerability by creating cryptography based on problems that are believed to be resistant to quantum attacks, providing enhanced security in the quantum era.

One of the key components of QRL's cryptography is the eXtended Merkle Signature Scheme (XMSS). This is a unique mathematical function that is designed to allow for secure and efficient transaction authentication when taking into account the trends of quantum computers.

In addition to securing transactions, QRL leverages advanced techniques such as on-chain lattice key storage and layer-to-internode communication to secure communications on the blockchain.

Overall, although the advent of quantum technology raises concerns, the ongoing development of cryptographic encryption has the potential to surpass the progress of quantum computing.

As quantum computing remains in its nascent stages, investors and centralized organizations have the opportunity to transition to quantum-resistant cryptography. The situation is much different for decentralized blockchain technology, which post-quantum security analysts insist has a fatal and fundamentally unfixable flaw. QRL doesn't have this problem, they maintain. In any case, QRL seems to be at the vanguard of the post-quantum security frontier and well-positioned to offer a safe way for transactions and communications in a post-quantum world.

Featured Photo by Sunil Ray on Unsplash

Contact:

Mike Zeiger4d5a@theqrc.com

SOURCE: The Quantum Resistance Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/756041/The-Quantum-Threat-To-Cryptocurrency-How-QRLs-Quantum-Safe-Blockchain-Technology-Could-Be-Poised-To-Revolutionize-The-Industry

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The Quantum Threat To Cryptocurrency: How QRL's Quantum-Safe Blockchain Technology Could Be Poised To Revolutionize The Industry - Yahoo Finance

Many in Pakistan were furious and indignant following the governments recent decision to outlaw cryptocurrencies in the country. Im taking a stand against the governments decision to ban cryptocurrency. Im challenging this decision in court and fighting for our right to use cutting-edge technologies, Umair Orakzai, a crypto-influencer said. Another crypto-focused community, Crypto Awaz, has questioned the lawmakers about the rationale behind imposing a blanket ban on digital currencies, instead of regulating it. Ergo, its worth looking at the state of cryptocurrency in Pakistan.

The controversy began after the Pakistani government outrightly rejected the notion of legalizing cryptocurrency trading, leaving the nations expanding community of crypto-aficionados in a quandary. At a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha said that banning cryptos is one of the requirements put forward by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which removed Pakistan from its grey list last year.

Here, the FATF is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog which removed Pakistan from its increased monitoring list after four years.

The move got support from officials of the countrys central bank. State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Minister added that the SBP and IT Ministry have started preparing the draft for the legislation.

However, many among Pakistans crypto-community are not convinced. For instance, well-known YouTuber and crypto-influencer Waqar Zaka questioned why Pakistan is being refused access whereas the UAE, which is also on the grey list, continues to grow as a crypto-hub.

The ban on the trading of virtual assets in the South Asian nation hasnt come like a bolt from the blue. In 2018, SBP issued a circular stating that digital assets like Bitcoin [BTC] and Litecoin [LTC] were not recognized as legal tender by the government. It also directed banks and other financial service providers not to deal with cryptocurrency exchanges.

According to Pakistans Express Tribune, the government had set up three distinct committees to decide whether to establish a legal framework for cryptos or ban it. One of the committees headed by the Deputy Governor of SBP proposed to ban the use of cryptos in the country in January 2022.

The usage of cryptos has increased significantly in Pakistan in recent years. The country was ranked third in the Global Crypto Adoption Index for 2020-21, according to blockchain data platform Chainalysis. Quite understandably, this happened during the famous bull cycle which saw Bitcoin exploding from $9,000 to $69,000.

Moreover, a research study conducted by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) revealed that Pakistanis held nearly $20 billion in crypto-assets during 2020-21, reflecting an astronomical increase of more than 700%.

However, owing to the broader market downturn and the aforementioned regulatory crackdown, the country slipped to sixth position in the 2022 report. Nevertheless, the data also revealed that there is a higher level of awareness and demand for virtual currencies in the nation.

Pakistan is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, characterized by soaring inflation, mounting public debt, and rapidly falling foreign exchange reserves. The Pakistani rupee (PKR) has plunged to record lows against the U.S. Dollar (USD), with one dollar being equivalent to 286 Pakistani rupees at the time of publication.

In the event of such devaluation, cryptos like stablecoins could have acted as a hedge against price fluctuations. As stablecoins like Tether [USDT] are pegged to a stable asset like USD, people can convert their savings into stablecoins to get exposure to the dollar.

In essence, cryptos have been found to be beneficial for countries going through political and financial instability. Chainalysiss report also noted in its observations that countries in lower middle and upper middle income countries tend to have a greater reliance on cryptos than other countries.

Ergo, only time will tell us about the final state of cryptocurrencies in Pakistan.

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Cryptocurrency in Pakistan To ban or not to ban is not just an FATF question - AMBCrypto News