Binance to Discontinue Operations in Nigeria March 8

•House to probe cryptocurrency, other digital assets’ transaction

Nume Ekeghe in Lagos and Juliet Akoje in Abuja

Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has announced its decision to cease operations in Nigeria due to regulatory challenges with the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regarding foreign exchange regulations.

Customers have been given until March 8, 2024, to withdraw their funds, following the halt of naira deposits starting from March 5, 2024.

 In a statement yesterday, Binance stated: “Binance will discontinue all Nigerian Naira (NGN) services as per the timeline below. Users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets, or convert NGN into crypto prior to the discontinuation of these NGN services.”

The firm further stated that effective from 9 am on March 8, 2024, any remaining NGN balances in users’ accounts would be automatically converted to USDT at a rate of 1 USDT per N1,515.13. “Additionally, all spot trading pairs against the naira will be delisted on March 7 at 3:00 a.m. UTC, with open spot orders for these pairs being automatically closed.

“Furthermore, Binance Convert, Binance P2P, the exchange’s Auto Invest feature, and Binance Pay will cease support for the naira at various dates and times.”

Binance emphasised that the conversion rate was calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days. The conversion process may take up to 24 hours or longer, with USDT tokens being credited to users’ Spot wallets thereafter.

 “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.  The conversion may take approximately up to 24 hours or longer. USDT tokens will be credited to users’ Spot wallets thereafter, and users can confirm receipt of the tokens via the Convert History page.

 “If users hold less than 0.00000001 USDT worth of NGN in their Spot and Funding wallets, they will each receive 0.00000001 USDT in their Spot wallets after the conversion. Users should ensure they have not selected “Hide Small Balances” in all of their wallets to view their assets after trading ceases.

“Binance Auto-Invest will delist NGN after 2024-03-06 03:00 (UTC). Users may choose to remove the plan(s) beforehand. Otherwise, the next recurring cycle of the aforementioned token(s) will fail,” it added.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday resolved to probe the current status of Cryptocurrency, blockchain, digital asset transactions in Nigeria to identify threats to national security and gaps in legislative framework and regulations to the detriment of the country.

The House also resolved to probe the online peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace, utility sharing, the current status of the E-Naira on the global cryptocurrency platform, the cost incurred, processes undertaken, and statutory compliance in creating the digital currency.

In addition, the lawmakers also resolved to engage all relevant stakeholders to initiate necessary processes for establishing required legislation and regulations, while establishing the profile of operators in the sector such as legal status, parent company, and assess their compliance with our existing statutes or complicity in infractions against Nigeria including money laundering, illicit transactions, currency speculation and bad practices.

The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance on the

need to investigate activities surrounding digital assets, international money transfers and other such platforms moved by Hon. Isiaka Ibrahim at plenary on Tuesday.

Presenting the motion, Ibrahim expressed concerns about the national security implications of cryptocurrency transactions through cryptocurrency exchanges including consumer and investor security as these exchanges are said to enable money laundering by criminals and terrorists for their illicit activities.

He said as part of its sweeping market friendly reforms designed to attract substantial foreign direct investment into the countries struggling economy, the present administration reversed the ban on cryptocurrency transactions in Nigeria imposed by the previous administration.