Ethiopian Central Bank Warned That Crypto Trading Is Illegal

The Ethiopian central bank warned that crypto trading is illegal in the country, going against BTC and crypto and encouraging the public to use the national currency instead so let’s read more today in our latest cryptocurrency news today.

The Ethiopian central bank clarified in a recent statemetn that it is still illegal to transact using BTC and other cryptocurrencies so all citizens are encouraged to continue trading using the Ethiopian Birr. As reported by the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate, BTC and cryptos are yet to be recognized by the NBE as a legitimate means of payment. The NBE said:

“Ethiopia’s national currency is the Ethiopian Birr, with any financial transaction in Ethiopia to be paid in Birrs, according to the law.”

The central bank’s concern lies in the crypto’s alleged use for informal transactions and money laundering schemes and called on the public to report these illegal activities if witnessing them. The Financial authorities across the world from the ECB and the Federal Reserve shwoed concerns over crypto’s use in financial rime like drug trafficking and sanctions evasion. Chainalysis found that illicit funds transferred in crypto are increasing over time but are fast declining as a share of total transactions.

Ethiopia’s crypto position stands in contrast to the Central African Republic which adopted BTC as a legal tender and the nation plans on building various forms of infrastructure to embed crypto into the economy. However, the Bank of Central African States governing the CAR legacy currency, opposed the move and wasn’t consulted on the Bitcoin plan. Hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones also said that the central banks will do what they can to stop BTC’s adoption given that it poses threat to their establishment:

“They lose the ability to control the creation and the supply of money,” he explained.

As recently reported,  the IOHK team led by Charles Hoskinson was in Africa to meet with entrepreneurs and politicians in a bid to enhance Cardano’s cause. Hoskinson and the team dropped by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education for a follow-up on the student credential system that was mentioned in August. The credential system was set to overhaul the academic records of 5 million students that put information like grades and attendance on the blockchain to gather the data and to provide a digital identity system.