The decision to launch its digital currency was reached during a private webinar on Thursday in which the CBN said about 80 per cent of central banks worldwide are exploring issuing digital currencies.

Rakiya Mohammed, CBN director of information technology, explained that the central bank began conducting research in 2017 with regards to developing a digital currency.

It would be recalled that Prof Osinbajo had on February 26 spoke on the controversial issue that blockchain technology was generating at the time. He had urged the CBN to regulate and not prohibit cryptocurrency.