Cryptocurrency Ban in Nigeria.
I’m pretty sure you are aware…
Of CBN’s love letter to us.
What were you first thoughts?
I was like
“OMO X30BG”
So,
what does this ban mean?
What is the fuss about?
For one, it’s no longer business as usual!
How does this affect Patricia?!?!
The memo prohibits banks and other financial institutions from servicing crypto exchanges (i.e Patricia).
Basically, it means, we can no longer receive money from customers who want to buy bitcoin with Naira,
in the same light, we cannot payout to customers who want to withdraw Bitcoin to Naira…
Which today is the core of our Nigerian operations as users can only now exchange cryptocurrency but can no longer touch the Nigerian Naira.
At least, through the banks and every Financial Institutions.
What does this mean for Nigeria?!?!
This is a clear repetition of what happened with the ride-hailing services...
It’s a year after the ban and bikes are back,
roaming on the streets as if nothing happened,
But, Millions of investor Dollars have been lost,
Ton’s of people lost their jobs,
we actually hired people from these companies at Patricia...
In addition,
Investor confidence would further decline, no one wants to put money in an unstable economy,
There would be a mass exodus of Fintech businesses moving to countries with better policy
Fintech companies that could succeed in Nigeria
Paid taxes to the Nigerian Government
Created jobs for Nigerians,
Postive exposure to Nigeria,
its a butterfly effect really.
Africa is always coming last,
We get 5G last,
We get electric Cars last,
Data Centers,
Covid-19 Vaccine… Everything really…
And the amazing thing about crypto is that it is not bounded by geography, It’s packed with so much potential, It’s young, it’s fresh, and it’s exciting,
Give it sometime,
Nigeria could be the Global leaders in blockchain technology,
But you know, E BE THINGS
It’s bad news but I can’t sit on that table ,
Why
Because around here,
We do not cry over Spilt milk,
Spilt Milk gets wiped up.
We move,
Move because this is the new reality.
And I have a business to run…
The nature of Bitcoin,
The true form of cryptocurrency is decentralization
The idea of bitcoin is a currency free from bad policy…
We had to go back to the roots
It’s time for critical thinking
As a business
we’ve been focused so much on Nigeria…
Building Patricia from within
Hoping to put Nigeria on the map,
What’s certain at this point
is that
We cannot achieve our Vision of Patricia by just focusing on Nigeria.
Patricia is built on some core foundations
People and Innovation are two of the main cores
I pulled a few superheros together and we spent what seemed like unending hours,
Brainstorming, arguing, sharing Lollipop moments trying to work out a viable plan…
I almost strangled Benjamin,
Guess what!
We have a Plan
And our Plan is solid
The plan is 100%
We did not only solve the problem for Patricia,
We think we might have solved it for the entire African crypto community.
I want to reassure you,
We are not done, the Job is not finished
We are Powerful beyond measure,
it is our light, not our darkness that frightens them.
It’s time for us to shake things up
Nelson Mandela said;
“There is no Passion to be found in playing small in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living”
I refuse for Patricia to play small,
We will not be boxed in,
We will continue TO DO THE MOST.
Our growth has just been accelerated,
Now, WE PLAY FOR THE WORLD.
