Nigeria's apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that it will continue to do all within its regulatory powers to educate Nigerians to desist from use of cryptocurrencies — despite growing criticism.

The bank, in a statement on Sunday evening, said it is determined to protect the country’s financial system from activities of “fraudsters and speculators”.

Listing various reasons for its action, the central bank said not only are cryptocurrencies issued by unregulated and unlicensed entities, the patrons and users value “anonymity, obscurity, and concealment” and there are risks of “loss of investments, money laundering, terrorism financing, illicit fund flows and criminal activities”.

China, Canada, Taiwan, Indonesia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia have all placed certain level of restrictions on financial institutions facilitating cryptocurrency transactions, the bank said in the statement signed by Osita Nwanisobi, its acting director of corporate communications.