The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, has announced that as from March 8, it will no longer provide any services associated with the Naira. The decision to go this route was made with consideration for Nigeria’s crackdown on international cryptocurrency exchange. This information was disclosed in a statement issued through its mobile app.
Binance announced that all remaining NGN funds in user accounts will be immediately changed to USDT, a stablecoin that tracks the value of the US dollar. Additionally, on March 7, Binance will delist all of the current NGN spot trading pairs. Naira is no longer included among the approved payment options for Binance Pay, the company’s payment solution service, as a result of this change.
Following an official ban on the company’s website, Binance found itself in hot water last week when two of its executives were arrested by the National Security Adviser (NSA) as soon as they arrived in the country.
According to Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s special assistant on information and strategy, Binance has been fined a $10 billion by the Nigerian authorities for allegedly benefitting from unlawful transactions. However, Binance has denied any claims that it knew about this purported fine.
