Nigeria bans ATM cash withdrawals over $225 a week to force use of CBDC

Can someone explain to me why this wouldn't have the perverse effect of discouraging the use of conventional bank accounts and causing people to just hold onto their cash or to put it in the equivalent of safe deposit boxes, or for wealthier people, to use "offshore" banks or to purchase assets easily convertible into cash?

The Naira has been redesigned and new notes will be public by December 15th. The old note will cease to be a legal tender by January 31st, 2023

As a Nigerian, one of my biggest goals is to save enough to invest in a second passport. Since the last administration took over, their policies have been spectacularly bad - and that's coming from me, a Nigerian (and African) who has only known bad government all his life.

When COVID-19 kicked in and oil revenues dried up, the government turned on the printing presses and churned out an awful amount of Nairas. Like anyone who has a basic knowledge of economics would have expected, the Naira tanked - aggressively. From around N365/$1 to N740/$1 as of today (i.e., on the black market).

Instead of facing up to the problem, the government has created multiple exchange rates, demonized bureau de change operators, and generally restricted how much FX you can access.

And as presidential elections are coming up in 2023, millions of citizens are still eager to vote for the clowns that will just crank the lever to 11.

At some point, you just feel trapped. Most citizens don't even recognize it and the CBDC was launched without no opposition.

Come to think of it, it was launched after a series of anti-government protests in OCTOBER 2022. So, the government started tying SIM cards to personal ID numbers and trying to force a CBDC. So, if such a protest should repeat itself, you just get cut off from the financial system without fanfare.

That's what pains me: those who were protesting government brutality in October 2020 have said nothing about this and they see it as just another step towards a digital economy.

It's so discouraging being a libertarian and knowing how this will end.

India's approach was to cancel large-denomination banknotes, but it did not have the intended effect, https://archive.ph/ynouY

> India’s prime minister, announced in November that Rs1,000 ($16) and Rs500 notes would no longer be legal tender, he suggested that corrupt officials, businessmen and criminals — popularly believed to hoard large amounts of illicit cash — would be stuck with “worthless pieces of paper”. But the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report on Wednesday suggested that most holders of the old currency managed to dispose of it

> ... The bank’s estimate follows media reports that complex money-laundering networks sprang up in the wake of the demonetisation to help wealthy Indians deposit huge volumes of previously undeclared currency without exposing themselves to tax authorities. Such people allegedly sold the old notes, at a discount, to brokers who then dispatched low-income Indians to deposit or exchange them at banks.

Sadly this appears to be true. Apparently the largest 12 U.S. banks (Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, etc.) are pushing for CBDC and most of the ~4.7k other commercial banks oppose it. Guess who is winning? [0]

[0]: https://www.corbettreport.com/cbdc/