The popular and leading global cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance, is set to discontinue all services in Nigeria involving the local fiat currency, the Nigerian naira (NGN). On Tuesday, March 5, the global cryptocurrency platform confirmed its decision to halt NGN withdrawals starting from March 8. The confirmation also clarified that any NGN user’s account balance will be automatically converted into the Tether (USDT) stablecoin, as outlined in the announcement.
Ahead of the news, Binance urges users to proactively withdraw their NGN, engage in NGN asset trading, or convert their NGN holdings into cryptocurrencies. Binance stated that “Users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets, or convert NGN to crypto before the discontinuation of these services from 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), any remaining NGN balances in users’ Binance account will be automatically converted to USDT,”
Binance also made it clear that the conversion rate will be calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days. The decision to halt its services a few weeks after being embroiled in regulatory disputes with the government accusing the platform of ongoing manipulation of the forex market and involvement in the illicit movement of funds.
Our correspondent’s information states that the Nigerian authorities have detained two high-profile Binance executives. Both executives flew into the country after their website was banned and were arrested by the National Security Adviser’s (NSA) office.
During last month’s monetary policy meeting, Nigeria’s central bank governor, Yemi Cardoso, stated that Binance Nigeria had facilitated transactions exceeding $26 billion from unidentified sources in one year. According to a presidential aide, the government has imposed a $10 billion fine on the Company. However, the crypto exchange has refuted any awareness of this fine.
