After Nigerian regulators clamped down on the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance is scheduled to end all naira services by March 8, 2024.
The company informed its subscribers that it would convert all NGN balances to USDT in their accounts.
It said in a statement on Tuesday that it will no longer accept deposits in naira. “Prior to the termination of these NGN services, users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets, or convert NGN into cryptocurrency.”
Naira withdrawals must end by March 8, 2024, at which point they will be changed to USDT at a rate of N1,515.13/USDT. It noted, “Please be aware that the conversion rate is determined using the USDT/NGN trading pair’s average closing price on Binance spot over the previous seven days.”
According to Binance, the conversion could take up to 24 hours or more. It stated that after March 6, NGN would be delisted from its auto investment, and on the same day, Naira would no longer be offered as a payment option on Binance Pay.
The cryptocurrency company continued, “We appreciate your support as we work to create an ecosystem for cryptocurrencies that fosters transparency and long-term, sustainable growth.”
Naira was introduced as the platform’s first African currency for peer-to-peer trading in 2020.
The Nigerian government is attempting to restrict the exchange’s operations, which coincides with Binance’s most recent action. The crypto exchange has been charged by Nigeria with manipulating the value of the naira concerning the dollar.
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, recently revealed that $26 billion came through Binance Nigeria in a single year from users and sources that the central bank was unable to identify.
“It’s enough to state that we’re committed to doing whatever it takes to make sure we control our market and don’t let anybody else distort it. We’re not going to tolerate that, and we’ll take every precaution to stop any violations,” he asserted.
Since then, the company has stated that “it is important to note that foreign exchange rates are influenced by various complex factors, which Binance has no influence on.”
But during the past three weeks, national authorities have requested that the cryptocurrency platform ban USDT trades in naira and limit access to the websites of cryptocurrency companies.
The Binance P2P market isn’t formally accessible in Nigeria right now. Authorities purportedly wanted to view the list of the company’s Nigerian users, leading to the detention of two of the executives last week.
Chimezie Chuta, the creator and coordinator of the Blockchain Nigeria User Group, recently told reporters, “The government is focusing on the wrong thing in their effort to tackle the naira’s issue.”
Binance noted on its X page that customers can keep utilizing its other goods and services for other cryptocurrencies that are available.
On X, Victor Abiola, identifying himself as a representative and affiliate of Binance Africa, stated: “There’s no need to panic. Everything continues to function well. Before this communication, how many of us traded NGN/USDT? Other coins, products, and services work perfectly.”
According to Chainalysis, Nigeria has one of the biggest peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplaces globally, with $56.7 billion in crypto transactions recorded between July 2022 and June 2023. Crypto dealers have moved to other platforms, like Telegram, to carry on their P2P transactions when Nigeria started cracking down on Binance.
