Osinbajo advocates knowledge-based regulation for crypto-currency

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said there was the need to develop a robust regulatory regime that was thoughtful and knowledge-based for crypto-currency.

Osinbajo said rather than adopt a policy that prohibited crypto-currency operations in the country, regulators must act with knowledge and not fear.

His spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said the vice president virtually delivered a keynote address at a one-day economic summit.

The summit was organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Banker’s Committee, and the Vanguard Newspapers, themed “Bankers’ Initiative for Economic Growth.”

“I fully appreciate the strong position of the CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and some of the anti-corruption agencies on the possible abuses of crypto-currencies and their other well-articulated concerns. But I believe that their position should be the subject of further reflection.

“There is a role for regulation here. And it is in the place of both our monetary authorities and SEC to provide a robust regulatory regime that addresses these serious concerns without killing the goose that might lay the golden eggs.

“So, it should be thoughtful and knowledge-based regulation not prohibition; the point I am making is that some of the exciting developments we see call for prudence and care in adopting them, but we must act with knowledge and not fear,” he said.

On national development and the public and private sector interventions, the vice-president emphasised that in order to engender sustained economic growth, stakeholders must think in terms of scale.

“Given the size of our population, we cannot afford the luxury of pilot projects; we should design our interventions very carefully and then go big.

“After all, these just amounts to 400 houses per local government yet many of our local governments are larger than some African countries who would not consider building 400 houses in one year as too onerous a task.”

On the country’s recovery from its second recession in four years, Osinbajo said policymakers, lawmakers and business leaders had cause to cheer the relatively good performance in the face of the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He attributed successes recorded to the early actions of the federal government in providing an initial stimulus and then, constituting the Economic Sustainability Committee and the ESP.

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