The Tinubu-led administration has blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms over what it considers continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.
The recent unprecedented weakening of the Nigerian currency has seen the naira falling to all-time low of N1,800 to a dollar in the parallel market.
According to PREMIUM TIMES, the government decided to move against Binance and other crypto firms following reports that currency speculators and money launderers were using them to execute criminal activities.
Authorities believe the ‘criminal activities’ going on the crypto platforms are contributing significantly to the weakening of the naira.
Sources within the major telecommunication companies stated that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) communicated the directive to telcos and they had started acting on it.
Apart from Binance, other platforms such as Forextime, OctaFX, Crypto, FXTM, Coinbase, Kraken, among others, were equally blocked
Binance, a digital assets platform, serves as a window for peer to peer transaction allowing users to advertise interest to sell or buy currencies of their choice.
The biggest cryptocurrency trading platform confirmed that its collaborating with President Bola Tinubu’s administration to block Nigerians from dollar-naira trade on its platform.
Binance disclosed this in an announcement on its “commitment to P2P users in Nigeria” on Tuesday, warning 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.”
On Tuesday, Binance disabled sell option for its Nigerian users, 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.
This comes as another desperate move by the Tinubu-led government to discontinue naira freefall against the dollar
DAILY GIST recalls that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) had announced that it was joining forces with the Central Bank of Nigeria to clamp down on currency speculators and economic saboteurs.
