What Binance decision to stop NGN services mean for Nigerians involved in cryptocurrency trading?

Binance announced that they will cease all services provided for the Nigeria Naira Service.

 

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange stated that starting from March 8, all Naira services for Nigerian crypto traders will be discontinued. The decision comes after the Nigerian government restricted access to the platform in February, citing alleged irregularities.

 

Binance mentioned in their statement that they will remove NGN from the list of supported payment options on Binance Pay.

 

The government accused the cryptocurrency platform of causing financial losses to the country by manipulating exchange rates.

 

 

The government alleges that Binance’s speculation on the Nigeria currency has influenced the increase in foreign exchange rates, contributing to a nearly 70% decline in the Naira in recent months…

 

What does Binance’s withdrawal of the Naira Service mean for Nigerians?

 

There will be No more deposit or withdrawal?

 

The decision by the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange to discontinue Naira services will significantly impact Nigerians involved in the crypto business. This means that the exchange will no longer support any trading in Naira, whether it’s depositing money to buy crypto or withdrawing money from crypto in Naira.

In essence, while Binance hasn’t banned Nigerians from its platform, individuals wishing to buy or sell crypto are now on their own. They must find alternative methods to convert their crypto to Naira or transfer funds to their bank accounts.

This doesn’t imply that Nigerians cannot trade crypto on the exchange; currently, there are no restrictions on buying and selling crypto as long as Naira is not involved.

 

The tension between the Nigerian government and Binance escalated further when two Binance executives were arrested.

 

Security agencies are investigating allegations that the platform is involved in money laundering, financing terrorism, and other related accusations.

 

 

Nigerians have until March 8th.

 

Meanwhile, the company, in a statement on March 5th, announced that the exchange platform will delist or remove NGN deposits and withdrawals. This implies that they will no longer accept any Naira deposits, and from March 8th, any remaining Naira balances will be automatically converted to USDT or Tether stablecoin and sent to users’ Binance accounts.

 

The statement clearly states that Nigerians have until March 8th to withdraw their Naira assets. Any NGN not withdrawn by that date will be converted to USDT.

 

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

 

The statement further adds that the conversion rate will be calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance spot for the last seven days.

 

The company explained in the statement to its customers that:

1. Binance will no longer support NGN deposits after 2024-03-05 14:00 (UTC).
2. NGN withdrawals will not be supported after 2024-03-08 06:00 (UTC).
3. After 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), Binance will convert any remaining NGN balances in users’ Spot and Funding wallets into USDT at a ratio of 1 USDT = 1,515.13 NGN.
4. The conversion rate will be calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days.
5. 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 the receipt of the tokens via the Convert History page.
6. If users hold less than 0.00000001 USDT worth of NGN in their Spot and Funding wallets, they will each receive 0.00000001 USDT for their Spot wallets after the conversion.