E-Naira, wallet, coin, cryptocurrency, Bitcoin – All you need to know
In a few days, the Nigerian government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, will launch the country’s first digital coin called the E-Naira.
According to the reports, the E-Naira would be launched on the 1st of October as Nigeria marks her 61st independence day. Although this doesn’t mean Nigerians would immediately get access to the new digital coin.
This is because the CBN has revealed individuals would only be able to access it through financial institutions, with the apex bank having a general control and in charge of monitoring.
To access the E-naira would be very easy as the minimum requirement for those without a bank account is their National Identity Number NIN.
With the E-Naira set to en launched soon, it has become necessary to educate citizens on what they should know about E-Naira, wallet, coin, cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, as it appears many are finding it difficult to differentiate them.
Like earlier described, E-Naira is a digital coin but not cryptocurrency as it doesn’t earn interest or profit. It is also control and managed by the CBN, which means any individual accessing it will need to provide their identity details.
An E-wallet is also known as a digital wallet and like the physical wallet where you keep your money. In the case of an E-wallet, it runs on an electronic device, online service, or software program which permits one party to make electronic transactions with another party with the use of digital currency units for goods and services.
Therefore to use the E-naira, a wallet would be created for you where your digital coins would be stored for your use.
A coin is a small, flat, round piece of metal which serves as a medium of exchange and is generally accepted as the government issues it. In the case of Nigeria, there used to be kobo coins that have been phased out. We have the physical coin, which is what’s described above, and there is the digital coin under which E-naira falls.
Cryptocurrency is binary data which serve as a medium of exchange wherein individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger existing in a computerised form.
While all cryptocurrency is in digital form, it is, however, to be noted that not all digital coins are cryptocurrency; in this case, the Nigerian E-Naira is not a cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is the oldest digital coin and cryptocurrency; it works without a central bank or single administrator, which means individuals are in charge of how they manage and use their money. Bitcoin was launched in 2009 and remains the most popular cryptocurrency till date.
