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"Not your Keys, Not your Coins"
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Would be great to have a report from a boots on the ground Nigerian about what the general sentiment is about this.
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I'm Nigerian.
Well, the situation on the ground is kind of one of apprehension. At least for me personally.
The limit is basically 20,000 naira for cash withdrawals at the ATM. That's basically $30.
It might not really be much of an issue for mid to large-scale commerce, as you can easily do a bank transfer.
But there are a lot of people that don't have a bank account. Especially market women and the like.
On multiple occasions, I have had to spend more than 20,000 naira while buying things at the market. So, in those situations, I'll basically be stuck in limbo since I can't withdraw more than 20,000 naira a day and the market women won't accept bank transfer since they don't have accounts.
The policy would roll out yet, so we'll see how things go.
One solace available is that the current president leaves office next year, and with him, the nincompoop that is the CBN governor. Hopefully, the regulation would be changed when he leaves.
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Ah I see, so they announced the policy but haven't implemented it yet. That's somewhat of a relief. I'll be monitoring closely. Thanks for the update!
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Have you no empathy at all?
They can't have their money. The government kinda stole it.
They're pissed. No interviews needed.
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Going ad hominem on someone asking a simple good faith question is uncalled for.
The median salary in Nigeria is $750, and I suspect many locals will not be upset by this. I am trying to get more info in an effort to understand what the feelings are of the locals. That is literally the definition of empathy.
Anyway, having knowledge about how this CBDC rollout progresses is crucial as we observe a global rollout of CBDCs. We need knowledge of how it's going fiscally. How it's going for the people. How it's going on all levels.
If it's working well for the government and the people are docile (which is what I expect) that does not bode well for the rest of us.
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unbank the banks
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It's amazing to me that some of fiat currencies still exist.
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feels bad for Nigerians. Good thing they can opt into bitcoin.
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And they wonder why Nigerians are flocking into Bitcoin, lol now watch the torrent turn into flood!
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Come on Nigera you can do it. Be free!
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In the end this will be good for Bitcoin, since its value will be evident to a much wider audience. As for CBDCs, depending on the implementation, they have more potential for oppression than for anything else.
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Ultimately, the plan is to encourage more Nigerians to use alternative channels to carry out their banking transactions. Examples of such alternative channels are mobile banking, USSD, debit cards, POS, eNaira, etc.
Yeah, they want to track every transaction, and cash doesn't allow them to do that.
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Bet we got a Bitcoiner on the inside, advising Nigerian Central bankers about the best way to stop Nigerian people from looking for a financial alternative.
"Oh, I got it. Let's cap their spending. That'll keep them using our currency!"
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After the policy takes effect, all cash withdrawals above the stated limits will attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively.
The new policy is coming barely weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari launched the newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes.
  • Weekly withdrawals through automated teller machines (ATMs) will be reduced to N100, 000 per individual. Withdrawals through this channel will also be subject to an N20, 000 daily withdrawal limit.
  • In the same vein, the daily withdrawal limit through a point of sale (POS) terminals is N20, 000.
  • Note that the new N500 and N1000 banknotes will not be withdrawn through ATMs, as only N200 and below will be made available through the channel.
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At the parallel market rate (also known as "street rate", or sometimes the "black market rate") of N740 per USD, that means the withdrawal limits are (currently) $135/day, and $675/week.
The value of the N200 notes that are dispensed by the ATMs is $0.27 each. There are no denominations of notes with a different value dispensed by the ATMs.
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Math fail on my part, sorry. The correct amounts are as follows:
At the parallel market rate (also known as "street rate", or sometimes the "black market rate") of N740 per USD, that means the withdrawal limits are (currently) $27/day, and $135/week.
Imagine trying to withdraw your $27 worth of funds, and waiting on the ATM to finish spitting out the quantity of 100 for the N200 notes.
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And the per-day is even misnamed, since they account for withdrawals only 5 days per week. If you divide the $135 by 7 days instead, that means using cash withdrawals, at an average daily rate, provides only $19 per day of purchasing power.
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After the policy takes effect, all cash withdrawals above the stated limits will attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively.
So that's essentially the government adding a tax of 5% on your spending, above ~$19 per day.
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