Binance will discontinue naira (NGN) services in response to increased regulatory scrutiny in Nigeria, it said in suspension today. The cryptocurrency exchange will begin deleting any existing NGN trading pairs by Thursday, March 7. It advised users to withdraw, exchange or convert their NGN assets to crypto before the service is discontinued. Any remaining NGN in users’ spot and funding wallets will be converted to USDT on Friday, March 8, it noted.
By Wednesday, March 6, Binance will also remove NGN services from its auto-invest tool and remove the currency from the list of supported payment options on Binance Pay.
This development follows recent regulatory actions by the Nigerian government, which imposed restrictions on both local and foreign cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance. As a result, users faced accessibility challenges on the Binance website.
Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country’s apex bank, said Nigeria was losing taxes from unregistered crypto exchanges and accused Binance of facilitating “illegal flows from sources and users we cannot adequately identify” of $26 billion dollars.
What followed was the reported reservation two Binance officials after being invited to Nigeria to discuss regulatory restrictions. According Bloomberg, the officials were detained because Binance was operating illegally in Nigeria. The arrested officials may face charges related to currency manipulation, tax evasion and illegal business, although no formal charges have yet been filed.
Several reports indicate that the Nigerian government, alleging Binance’s involvement in currency manipulation through currency speculation and rate-fixing, has stepped up scrutiny of the platform by demanding nearly $10 billion in damages. However, both Nigeria and Binance have denied these claims regarding the fine.
The ongoing legal dispute between the world’s largest crypto platform and Africa’s leading crypto market has yet to be resolved. Recently, the Nigerian parliament made matters worse by threatening to issue an arrest warrant for the company’s executives. Additionally, they summoned Binance CEO Richard Teng to explain about investigations into alleged involvement in money laundering and terrorist financing, as reported by local sources.
