Binance has announced its decision to halt all services in naira, effective March 8, 2024, following increased regulatory scrutiny and clampdowns by the federal government over alleged breaches in foreign exchange regulations.
Binance made the official announcement on its website, revealing that it will suspend naira withdrawals after March 8.
“From March 8, any remaining NGN balances in users’ Binance accounts will be automatically converted to the Tether stablecoin,” the statement reads.
Binance urged its users to withdraw their naira funds, trade their naira assets, or convert them to cryptocurrency before the designated date of service cessation.
“Please note that the conversion rate is calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days,” Binance added.
Binance also said it would immediately suspend naira deposits, as such, transactions will not be supported after 2:00 pm UTC on Tuesday, March 5 2024.
According to the company, all trading pairs involving naira are set to be removed from its platform on March 7, 2024.
On February 21, 2024, Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to President Bola Tinubu, called for a ban on Binance and other crypto platforms, accusing them of influencing exchange rates and encroaching on the role of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Furthermore, CBN governor Olayemi Cardoso revealed that $26 billion had passed through Binance Nigeria from unidentified sources in one year, emphasizing the need to collaborate with regulatory bodies to ensure transparency and prevent manipulation in the foreign exchange market.
As of March 1, 2024, reports suggest that the federal government has demanded at least $10 billion in retribution from Binance for alleged illegal transactions in Nigeria, following the detention of two top executives from the crypto platform.
