Nigeria's Crypto Regulation Almost Bankrupted Patricia, says Rotimi Ogunwede, Company's CMO
- The Central Bank of Nigeria's policy on cryptocurrency in the country created unknowingly empowered traders, says Patricia's Chief Marketing Officer
- Rotimi Ogunwede told Legit.ng that contrary to popular view, crypto was not banned buut regulated by the CBN
- Patricia is the first crypt exchange platform in Nigeria and started in 2017 as a digital asset platform selling gifts cards
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) unknowingly gave people control over cryptocurrency transactions in Nigeria with its policy.
Rotimi Ogunwede, Patricia’s Chief Marketing Officer and Global Head of Strategy, told Legit.ng during its Digital Talk Show on Friday, January 28, 2022, that rather than dampen the morale of investors in the digital currency space, the policy of Nigeria’s apex bank emboldened and empowered them to adopt Peer-to-Peer (P2P) trading model in the country.
Source: Facebook
CBN was scared stiff
Ogunwede said the country’s apex bank became jittery with the trajectory the crypto market was going and decided to tell banks to close down accounts trading in crypto.
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He said that the policy affected Particia, the first Africa-based crypto exchange platform and made them lose 90 per cent of its business within 24 hours.
According to him, the adoption of crypto in the country is a form of rebellion for a country trying to stifle innovation and creativity.
The computer science graduate said Patricia was moribund for a month before it decided to adopt a new model and set up shop in Europe where it has seen its fortunes grow immensely.
Crypto is a problem solver
He mentioned that contrary to popular belief, cryptocurrency solve real-life problems and that it is had for investors to be scammed on the blockchain.
The regulation by the CBN affected Patricia’s talks with Nigeria Communications Commission to classify crypto as an asset, Oguwede told Legit.ng.
How Patricia grew despite challenges
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Ogunwede said, many people turned to crypto as safe heaven because they did not know what was going to happen to their assets.
Patricia is the first crypto-based platform to do mainstream advertising in Africa. It gave crypto trading legitimacy in Nigeria.
Started in 2017 as a marketplace for digital assets like gift cards and bitcoin.
Over N3 trillion worth of bitcoin wiped out in 24 hours
Legit.ng also reported that Cryptocurrency investors suffered a major blow recently after Bitcoin, other coins dropped in value by over a billion dollars. This happens as global investors sold off their coins to settle for secure investment options as Christmas day neared.
Bitcoin the largest cryptocurrency by market value, plunged by 31.6% from the year’s high of $69,000 reached on Nov. 10, 2021.
According to data from CoinDesk Bitcoin with almost $900 billion worth of units in circulation, traded below 42,000.
Source: Legit.ng
