Nigeria’s Crypto Crackdown: Did Binance Cave Or Just Play Fair?

iexclusivenews – Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has found itself in hot water with the Nigerian government.

Accusations of manipulating the local currency, the naira, and bending to government pressure have swirled around the platform, causing outrage amongst Nigerian crypto users.

Key Points:

• -Binance temporarily halts P2P trading in Nigeria, citing “system pause.”
• -Platform restricts USDT price to ₦1802, igniting outrage among users.
• -Nigerians accuse Binance of bowing to government pressure, switch to other platforms.
• -Binance denies allegations, claims move aimed at protecting users and preventing abuse.
• -Incident highlights growing tensions between crypto exchanges and governments.

Nigeria’s crypto scene erupted in chaos Wednesday as Binance, the world’s leading crypto exchange, abruptly restricted peer-to-peer (P2P) trading for its Nigerian users.

The move, implemented Tuesday night, triggered accusations of government interference and sent shockwaves through the local crypto community.

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Price Ceiling Controversy

Binance’s decision to limit the maximum selling price of Tether (USDT), a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, to ₦1802 per unit fueled the fire.

This effectively created a price ceiling, significantly lower than the prevailing market rate of over ₦2000/USDT on other platforms.

Outrage on Social Media

Nigerians took to social media to express their outrage, accusing Binance of succumbing to pressure from the Tinubu-led administration to control the country’s volatile foreign exchange market.

One X user commented:

“This is a hopeless attempt to save the naira, which is doomed to fail. Binance was just a channel. If you block Binance, people will find other ways. This whole policy is utterly ridiculous. Naira is going to zero.”

Many pointed to the government’s recent crackdown on crypto trading as evidence of collusion.

Binance Fires Back

In a bid to quell the uproar, Binance released a statement titled

“Securing Trust: Binance Affirms User Funds and Operational Integrity Amid Market Dynamics in Nigeria.”

The statement read in part:

“Don’t fall for the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, And Doubt). We want to assure users that their funds are safe and our peer-to-peer (P2P) product is still operational. Binance provides a P2P marketplace, not a price discovery platform. To be clear: it is driven by the market and is not meant to be a proxy for currency pricing in Nigeria.

To protect users, and to avoid any abuse, our system automatically pauses when there is a period of significant currency movement. Last night, we noticed a temporary price suppression that briefly reached our system limit. We quickly made the necessary adjustments to allow trading to resume.

We have strict measures in place to protect users in the market, including real-time monitoring, immediate removal of non-compliant advertisements, and permanent removal of bad actors from using our P2P product.”

The exchange denied any wrongdoing, claiming the price peg resulted from an “automatic system pause” triggered by “significant currency movement.”

Protecting Users or Playing Politics?

Binance further emphasized its commitment to user protection and market integrity, outlining measures to prevent abuse and manipulation.

However, many remain skeptical, questioning the timing and transparency of the move.

The Future of Crypto in Nigeria

While the full impact of Binance’s actions remains unclear, one thing is certain: the incident has significantly strained relations between the platform and its Nigerian user base.

It also highlights the growing tensions between governments and crypto exchanges, raising questions about the future of crypto regulation in emerging markets like Nigeria.

Stay tuned with iexclusivenews for further updates on this developing story!