Moniepoint, Opay, Kuda, Others Barred from Accepting New Customers Due to Alleged Naira Manipulation

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has banned leading microfinance banks Moniepoint, Opay, and Kuda from accepting new customers, citing concerns about cryptocurrency-related activities and the potential manipulation of the naira’s value.

Sources close to the matter revealed to Peoples Gazette that CBN issued this ban in response to suspicions of money laundering and attempts to influence the value of the Nigerian currency. This move comes as the naira’s value has suffered a noticeable decline, with exchange rates reaching N1350 to a dollar on Monday, compared to N950 earlier this month.

Moniepoint, one of the affected fintech companies, informed its users of the restrictions in a message on its platform, stating, “Hello! We’ve temporarily paused new sign-ups on our platform. This means that you’ll be unable to open a new account at the moment. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

The Central Bank’s actions follow recent market instability that saw the naira drop to nearly N2000 to a dollar in February, prompting a broader crackdown on cryptocurrency activities in Nigeria. In a related move, CBN collaborated with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to target Binance, leading to the detention of two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla. The government demanded that Binance disclose the names of its top 100 users and their transaction histories as a condition for releasing the detained executives.

The CBN’s recent ban on new accounts for these prominent fintech firms is part of an ongoing effort to stabilize the naira and address cryptocurrency-related risks. Further developments are expected as authorities work to restore confidence in the nation’s financial system.