Key takeaways:
- Nigeria has restricted access to cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase, which is undoubtedly a noteworthy development for the nation.
- The choice was taken in an effort by the government to curtail currency speculation. The value of the Naira in Nigeria has dropped to all-time lows.
Nigeria has restricted access to cryptocurrency exchanges Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase, which is undoubtedly a noteworthy development for the nation. According to the report published in the Financial Times, the nation has indeed taken action to stop the depreciation of its currency.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NC) has mandated telecom providers to restrict users’ access to the three cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a report from the Financial Times.
The choice was taken in an effort by the government to curtail currency speculation. The value of the Naira in Nigeria has dropped to all-time lows.
An enormous advancement for the sector has been the widespread presence of the digital asset market in 2024. Nonetheless, a lot of nations are still figuring out how to use this new asset class. More specifically, the process of developing regulatory standings has been continuing for many different regions.
Nigeria has since responded to the industry by taking a significant step by preventing access to well-known cryptocurrency exchanges. In fact, a report claims that access to Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken is restricted. The decision was taken in the midst of the country’s indigenous currency, the Naira, continuing to lose value.
According to the report, clients on Thursday had restricted access to the exchanges due to countrywide blocking of access. In contrast, the move represents a substantial shift in the Nigerian government’s stance on cryptocurrencies. Before now, President Bola Tinubu had noted that the asset may be used to boost foreign investment. Bolstering the previously shaky economy in the process.
Nonetheless, the country is pushing for more digital asset regulation in Nigeria. Additionally, many people in the government have seen that certain assets, like Tether and Bitcoin, are competitors to traditional assets. Therefore, they concluded that the rise in popularity of digital assets has contributed to their currency decline.
Bayo Onanuga, the counselor to President Tinubu, charged on Wednesday that Binance was using its exchange rate to usurp the Central Bank’s position as the arbiter of exchange rates. He stated:
“Crypto should be outlawed in our nation.”
Furthermore, he stated that if they don’t stop access to the exchanges, “this bleeding of our currency will continue unabated.”
A few weeks after the Indian government sent out an alert about almost a dozen offshore cryptocurrency exchanges, Apple’s App Store in India removed those apps. Although Apple’s App Store has blacklisted the FIU-notified bitcoin exchanges, they are still available on the Google Play Store and web versions.
