Reports indicate that Ethiopia’s central bank has issued a warning against cryptocurrency trading in the country.
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) said in a statement issued on Monday that despite being illegal, the use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin was becoming more common.
It claimed that this was making it easier to conceal illicit funds. The bank has promised to take action against those who use cryptocurrencies.
This is coming one month after called on the public against using cryptocurrencies to transact businesses, saying the Central Bank has not licensed any company to offer the services.
The director of national payments system, Andrew Kawere in a notice dated April 29, said the Central Bank has noted with concern some entities advertising conversion of cryptocurrencies into mobile money and vice versa, which he said is illegal.
This is not the first time a government has come out to warn public against using cryptocurrencies in transacting businesses.
In 2019, Uganda’s Finance minister Matia Kasaija said “The government of Uganda does not recognise cryptocurrency as the legal tender in Uganda and has not licensed any organisation in Uganda to sell cryptocurrencies or to facilitate trade in cryptocurrencies.”
He added that government has not licensed any organisation in Uganda to sell cryptocurrencies or to facilitate the trade in cryptocurrencies and so these organisations are not regulated by the Government or any of its agencies.
Cryptocurrency is any form of currency that exists digitally or virtually and uses cryptography to secure transactions.
It does not have a central issuing or regulating authority, instead using a decentralised system to record transactions and issue new units.
Cryptocurrency is a digital payment system that doesn’t rely on banks to verify transactions. It’s a peer-to-peer system that can enable anyone anywhere to send and receive payments.