Hey guys! It’s been a while!
In today’s post, I will tell you how my bank account was blocked and what I did to unblock it.
Most importantly too, I will tell you what to do to keep your account from getting blocked or suspended.
Following the CBN crypto ban of February 2021, it has become a great hassle to trade cryptocurrencies in Nigeria.
Many crypto traders have experienced the suspension or the blocking of their bank accounts.
If you can relate to this, then you are at the right place.
Let’s get started.
Post Summary
This is how today’s post will go:
- CBN Crypto Ban: How It Started And How It Is Going
- How My Bank Account Was Blocked And How I Unblocked It (How The Bank Can Detect A Cryptocurrency Transaction)
- How To Keep Your Bank Account From Being Blocked When Trading Cryptocurrency
- When Will The CBN Crypto Ban Be Lifted?
- Conclusion
To get the full info on any of the subheadings, just click on it and the details will be displayed.
Grab your drink and popcorn as I begin my tale.
1. CBN Crypto Ban: How It Started And How It Is Going
Early this year (February 2021), the Central Bank of Nigeria jolted crypto traders in Nigeria when they passed the crypto ban order.
Hold up… when I say ‘crypto ban’, I don’t mean it literally.
Of course, no one can ban cryptocurrency… Not even our dear government or any government at all.
What the ban entails is that all financial institutions in Nigeria were mandated to stop processing cryptocurrency transactions.
The institutions were also asked to close down the account of anyone found doing so.
And this has affected both the traders and the exchanges as well.
To salvage the situation, most exchanges included the P2P feature as one of their services.
The traders themselves also resorted to Peer-to-Peer (P2P) trading.
For first-timers, I will explain briefly how P2P works.
P2P trading is simply trading between 2 people (hence the name Peer to Peer).
This trade is then moderated by an exchange via an escrow.
How it works is this:
- Seller sends coins to the escrow
- Buyer sends funds to the seller’s bank account, and
- Seller releases the coins from escrow
But at the point of sending the money to the seller, the buyer uses the services of a financial institution – a bank.
The money goes straight to the seller’s bank account.
Now you might be asking: How will the bank detect that the funds are for a cryptocurrency transaction?
The bankers are not superhumans… They get this information from whatever you write as ‘Narration’.
I explained more on this in the next subheading where I talked about how my account was blocked.
Just scroll down.
2. How My Bank Account Was Blocked And How I Unblocked It (How The Bank Can Detect A Cryptocurrency Transaction)
This video above explained all I’m about to tell you.
But you can still go ahead and vibe along with me as we continue in this post.
The choice is yours!
Let’s roll.
When you are sending money via a bank’s app (whether mobile or web), there’s always space for you to add narration (see image below).
In that space, you can write what the money you are sending is meant for.
For example: 1st Semester school fees, rice, laptop, monthly contribution, allowance, Dogecoin, etc.
The bank can easily deduce what the money you are sending is for from whatever you enter in that slot.
This brings me to the reason why my account was blocked.
As many of you know already, I curated the best crypto training course (CTMastery) to teach you how to trade cryptocurrency profitably.
In the course, I broke down the technicalities of crypto trading in simple language that even a novice in the field can understand.
With the info-packed videos and texts, you can never go wrong trading cryptos.
You can check out www.ctmastery.com to see things for yourself.
So, back to my story.
Someone sent me payment for the course and in the narration, he added ‘Cryptocurrency Training’.
Because of that keyword ‘cryptocurrency’, my account and that of my client were blocked.
Honestly, I was surprised.
I mean, the narration clearly stated that it is for ‘a cryptocurrency training’ and not ‘a cryptocurrency transaction’.
This is really unfair because I can decide to punish someone by getting their account blocked.
I can just send as low as 500NGN from my account (maybe one I don’t really use) to someone’s account adding ‘Bitcoin’ or ‘Cryptocurrecy’ as the narration.
Just this singular act will get both accounts blocked and the person will then undergo the stress of getting it sorted out.
If it’s a business account, the person will have to go through the stress of informing the customers of the recent happening and opening a new one.
This can be very very stressful.
Well, that’s by the way.
So the accounts were blocked and I got to know of it when my bank called me.
I was asked to come and collect my funds as my account will be shut down.
Other persons that I know found out when they were unable to access their bank app.
But whatever way you find out, your funds will be given back to you.
I went to the bank and I was reimbursed. Then my account was closed down.
I had to open a new account for the funds.
That was how my account was blocked and how the unblocking went.
But don’t panic, this is not always the case when you trade crypto.
Next, I am going to outline the things you have to do to keep your bank account from being closed.
Keep reading.
3. How To Keep Your Bank Account From Being Blocked When Trading Cryptocurrency
There are 2 major ways you can avoid that. They include:
No Crypto Related Terms in Narration
As a buyer, do not add crypto-related terms when transferring funds e.g cryptocurrency, BTC, Ethereum, Dogecoin, etc.
As a seller, always remind the buyer of this.
Yes, some exchanges show this reminder but always err on the side of caution by reminding the buyer.
That way, both parties’ accounts are safe.
Making Payments With Digital Currencies
To totally avoid issues with the bank, some traders make payments with e-currencies like PerfectMoney, Neteller, Payoneer, etc.
That way, banks and traders will remain in their individual lanes.
You can get a hold of these currencies from any of these e-currency exchanges.
The only con of this is that it attracts higher transaction fees.
But won’t it be better for you to pay more and have your peace of mind?
Now, you may be wondering: Will the crypto ban ever be lifted? Will we (crypto enthusiasts) ever go back to the pre-crypto ban era?
Read my thoughts on these in the section below.
4. When Will The CBN Crypto Ban Be Lifted?
Honestly, guys, I don’t know…
Not sure anyone has an answer to that question.
The crypto ban coupled with the Twitter ban in Nigeria is stifling the air out of the lungs of crypto traders and enthusiasts.
It’s been 5 months after the crypto ban and a month after the Twitter ban, yet no new information have been heard.
A lot has happened in the crypto space to restore normalcy.
Most traders have adapted to the new normal (P2P) of trading and have been trading volumes upon volumes.
Funny enough, the ban that was supposed to lead to the death of cryptos rather gave it the exposure it needed.
I mean we have recorded more crypto adoption since the ban.
But the thing is: with or without the lifting of the ban, crypto trading goes on.
As I mentioned earlier in this post, cryptocurrency cannot be banned by any government at all. It’s just like the internet.
Cryptocurrencies have come to stay and are still receiving massive adoption despite the market dip.
Those traders that know how to handle a crypto dip are even leveraging on the dip to buy more cryptos.
Cryptonites in Nigeria will have to keep working with the new normal with hopes of a better future.
And with talks of CBDCs flying around, we keep our fingers crossed as events take their turn.
Let’s go and round up this post.
Looking to trade cryptocurrencies profitably? We curated the perfect course that will help you do that.
Visit www.ctmastery.com to enroll.
Conclusion
This is where we’ll end today’s post. Hope it was worth your time?
While at it, I explained why and how the bank blocked my account and how it was unblocked.
I also showed you what not to do when trading cryptos to keep your bank account safe.
If you have any questions or comments, leave them for me in the comments box below.
You can also shoot us a mail at info@nigeriabitcoincommunity.com.
Share this post using the buttons below. Who knows, you might be helping out a fellow cryptonite.
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