In a decisive move responding to regulatory pressures, Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume has announced its departure from the Nigerian market and will discontinue all services tied to the Nigerian naira (NGN).
The exchange, in an official statement released on March 5, declared the suspension of NGN withdrawals from March 8 onwards.
Following this, any remaining NGN balances in users’ accounts will be automatically converted to the United States Dollar Tether (USDT) stablecoin.
Users have been urged to take prompt action, either by withdrawing NGN, trading their NGN assets, or converting NGN into cryptocurrencies before the closure of NGN services.
The announcement emphasised, “The conversion rate is determined by the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot over the past seven days.
“Furthermore, NGN deposits will be immediately suspended, with transactions unsupported after 2:00 pm UTC on March 5.
Subsequently, all trading pairs involving NGN will be removed from the platform on March 7, alongside the exclusion of NGN as a supported payment option on Binance Pay, effective March 6.
This development comes amidst the tension of heightened regulatory scrutiny faced by Binance in Nigeria.
Citing concerns of illicit transactions, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria highlighted suspicions surrounding crypto exchanges in the country, pointing specifically to “suspicious flows” of funds at Binance.
Reports emerged of the National Security Adviser’s office authorities confiscating the passports of two Binance executives in Abuja, the capital. The individuals, hailing from the United States and the United Kingdom, reportedly came under scrutiny due to allegations of illicit Forex manipulation amongst others.
As investigation intensifies, the Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes recently summoned Binance CEO Richard Teng to address these concerns. The committee’s chair issued an ultimatum for Binance leadership to appear before the committee on or before March 4, reflecting the gravity of the situation.