Binance Collaborates with Tinubu Government to Restrict Dollar-Naira Exchange on Platform

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform, has confirmed its collaboration with President Bola Tinubu’s administration to restrict Nigerians from engaging in dollar-naira trades on its platform. The announcement was made on Tuesday, emphasizing the platform’s commitment to addressing manipulative behavior among its users.

Binance stated, “As industry leaders, we are working hand in hand with local authorities, lawmakers, and regulators to ensure we act on non-compliance.” The platform outlined measures such as setting an upper limit for ads, filtering and removing inappropriate ads, and implementing stricter requirements for merchants posting ads.

On the same day, Binance disabled the sell option for Nigerian users, preventing them from selling fiat currency, USDT, on the platform. Additionally, it capped the buy option at $1802 for Nigerian users and disabled the purchase of cryptocurrencies via peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions.

This move is seen as a desperate attempt by the Tinubu-led government to stabilize the declining naira against the dollar. Despite recent efforts by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission and directives from the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to combat speculative activities in the foreign exchange market, the naira hit an all-time low of N1902 to a dollar on Tuesday.

Critics argue that this collaboration between Mr. Tinubu’s government and Binance echoes former President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2021 ban on cryptocurrency trading in Nigeria. While the Central Bank of Nigeria, under Tinubu’s watch, lifted the cryptocurrency ban in December 2023, the recent restrictions imposed on Binance have sparked discontent among Nigerian users.

Some users, such as @MikaelBernard, expressed frustration, calling Binance’s decision “absolutely ridiculous” and suggesting that users are exploring alternative platforms for their dollar-naira trading. Another user, MiracleOkeke, criticized the control imposed on person-to-person transactions, stating, “Jokes on you, we will move to other platforms.”

Nigeria, known for having more than half of its adult population engaged in monthly cryptocurrency trading, faces potential repercussions as discontented users seek alternative platforms. Recent restrictions on domiciliary accounts imposed by the Tinubu-led government may also contribute to the rising popularity of cryptocurrency exchanges for saving and receiving funds from abroad.