Nigeria's Central Bank Governor: Bitcoin is a gamble

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria recently expressed his opposition to Bitcoin, saying that investing in Bitcoin is a "gamble" and pointed out that it needs to be regulated.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria mentioned in his speech:

Cryptocurrency or Bitcoin is like gambling, everyone needs to be vigilant. People are gambling with their life savings, and we as a central bank cannot take care of all situations.

Emefiele is the latest in a string of global regulators to express concerns about bitcoin, a digital currency that has surged more than 1,700 percent in value over the past year after first peaking at $20,000 in December.

The interest in cryptocurrencies from both institutional and retail investors has raised concerns among regulators, who fear they are a bubble due to the high volatility of cryptocurrencies, and many still believe that criminals will exploit the cryptocurrency market.

Just recently, Tokyo digital currency exchange Coincheck was attacked and $530 million worth of NEM was stolen, which is the largest theft since the birth of cryptocurrency.

Such situations have led regulators to start increasing oversight of such markets. However, even as countries such as China and South Korea begin to tighten digital currency trading rules, demand for cryptocurrencies remains high.

Last month, the price of Bitcoin has been falling, and has remained at $11,000 in recent weeks. Now, the price of the currency has begun to rise, and mainstream currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have seen varying degrees of increase.

However, the fact is that the beginning of 2018 was not a good start for the cryptocurrency market, and many people still believe it is a bubble. Emefiele pointed out that it is precisely because of the uncertainty of cryptocurrencies that he asked the monetary policy department to study this market and learn more about related issues.