Ripple Becomes Nigerian Central Bank's Referral In Digital Currency Studies

Blockchain-based cross-border payment company, Ripple, is ready to facilitate the development of digital money. (Photo; Doc. Ripple)

JAKARTA - The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country's main financial regulator, has referred to Ripple, a blockchain payment company from San Francisco, in its latest report on digital currencies. The report is titled Digital Currency Economy and published in 2023.

In the report, CBN specifically cites the 2020 Ripple report on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The Ripple report discusses various aspects of CBDC, such as its definitions, objectives, impacts, challenges, and opportunities. This report aims to help professionals and the general public understand better the CBDC economy.

CBN emphasizes that the development of blockchain-based currencies has prompted central banks around the world to consider CBDC as an alternative or complement to personally published electronic money. This is because electronic money published by the private sector can pose a risk to financial system stability.

Four World Trends That Encourage CBDC Exploration

CBN also mentioned that there are four world trends that encourage the exploration of CBDC by central banks around the world. The four trends are:

Nigeria Launches ENaira As Central Bank Digital Currency

For additional information, Nigeria is one of the countries that has launched eNaira, a CBDC developed by the central bank in October 2021. eNaira is a digital currency equivalent to naira, Nigeria's official currency.

The introduction of eNaira is expected to provide benefits to the Nigerian economy, such as accelerating financial inclusion, increasing the effectiveness of monetary policy, and improving tax collection. In addition, eNaira can also increase regional and global trade integration by facilitating cross-border transactions.