Binance to block Nigerians from dollar-naira trade

Binance, world’s biggest cryptocurrency trading platform, says it is collaborating with the Federal Government to block Nigerians from dollar-naira trade on its platform.

Binance disclosed this Tuesday in an announcement on its “commitment to P2P users in Nigeria”.

It warned that “users behaving in a manipulative way will be removed from the platform.”

“As industry leaders,” Binance said, “We are working hand in hand with local authorities, lawmakers, and regulators to ensure we act on non-compliance.’’

The crypto exchange platform further said it is “setting an upper limit for ads, filtering and removing bad ads, requiring and raising deposits for merchants posting ads as well as processes for actioning against any market manipulators.”

Binance disabled sell option for its Nigerian users on Tuesday, blocking them from selling fiat currency, USDT, on the platform. It also capped the buy option to $1802 for Nigerian users.

It also disabled purchase of cryptocurrencies via P2P for its Nigerian users, leaving those who might want to sell their crypto assets such as Bitcoin, BNB, Ethereum via P2P stuck.

Naira continued its free fall with the exchange rate plummeting to over N1,500 and above N1,800 against dollar at the official and parallel market respectively on Tuesday, despite efforts by the federal government to arrest the trend.

The situation is negatively impacting the country’s economy and subjecting millions into hardship owing to soaring prices of commodities.

In a bid to improve liquidity, boost investors’ confidence and stabilise the Nigerian forex market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on June 14, 2023, liberalised the naira through a free-floating policy which allows demand and supply forces to determine the value of the currency.

The decision, instead of yielding positive results, saw the country’s currency losing more value against dollar and other foreign currencies, plunging the economy into deeper crisis and pushing more Nigerians into poverty.