Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency trading platform, has aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s administration to curtail Nigerians’ involvement in dollar-naira transactions on its platform.
Having worked closely with local authorities, legislators, and regulators, Binance emphasized compliance and issued warnings of account removal for manipulative behavior.
The platform introduced measures like ad limits, stringent ad filtering, and elevated deposit requirements for merchants.
Binance took a bold step by disabling the sell option for Nigerian users, capping the buy option at $1802, and suspending P2P cryptocurrency purchases for Nigerians.
This move was perceived as the Tinubu-led government’s endeavour to stabilize the naira against the dollar, following recent actions such as the EFCC raid on currency speculators.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu instructed law enforcement agencies to take decisive action against individuals involved in foreign exchange market speculation.
The naira hit an unprecedented low, trading at N1902 to a dollar before Binance restricted Nigerian users from selling USDT on the platform.
Critics labelled Binance’s decision as “absolutely ridiculous,” threatening to migrate to alternative platforms for dollar-naira trading. Some users expressed discontent with Binance’s attempt to control prices, emphasizing the inherent openness of cryptocurrency transactions.
Despite the restrictions, Nigeria maintained its status as one of the countries with the highest number of crypto traders globally, boasting over half of its adult population engaging in monthly trading, according to Binance.
