Nigeria has recently announced a ban on the use of certain cryptocurrency trading platforms, leading to the detention of two senior officials from Binance, a major exchange. According to reports from the Financial Times and Reuters, the executives were held at the national security advisor’s office and had their passports seized, as they were not exempted from the travel ban order.
This move is part of Nigeria’s efforts to combat the use of cryptocurrency, specifically the naira, which has been increasingly traded through these platforms due to the current shortage of US dollars. The official exchange rate for the naira has now aligned with the black market rate, following its devaluation last month – the second time in less than a year.
As a result of this ban, several cryptocurrency exchanges, including OctaFX, Crypto, FXTM, Coinbase, and Kraken, are no longer operating in Nigeria. This comes after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported that over $26 billion in transactions made through Binance Nigeria in the past years had no identifiable source.
The governor of CBN, Yemi Cardoso, has expressed concerns about the increasing amount of transactions occurring without proper identification. The authorities are currently working on identifying the source of these transactions.
These issues come at a time when Nigeria’s economy, the largest in Africa, is already struggling with a record low currency value. This was caused by the exit of foreign investors in 2015, following a collapse in oil prices and capital control measures.
In related news, here are the top 5 altcoins that have seen the highest gains in the past 24 hours: PEPE, AR, TON, APT, and ORDI.
