Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance Ends All Naira Services

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has ended its naira services, the company said on Tuesday.

It listed the timeline for the closure, asking users to take needed action.

“Users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets, or convert NGN into crypto prior to the discontinuation of these NGN services,” Binance said in a statement.

“From 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), any remaining NGN balances in users’ Binance accounts will be automatically converted to USDT based on the conversion rate below.

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“Binance will not support deposits of NGN after 2024-03-05 14:00 (UTC). Withdrawals of NGN will not be supported after 2024-03-08 06:00 (UTC).

“After 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), Binance will convert any remaining NGN balances in users’ Spot and Funding wallets into USDT on behalf of users at a ratio of 1 USDT = 1,515.13 NGN.

“Please note that the conversion rate is calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days.

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“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 receipt of the tokens via the Convert History page.

“If users hold less than 0.00000001 USDT worth of NGN in their Spot and Funding wallets, they will each receive 0.00000001 USDT in their Spot wallets after the conversion.”

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The move comes in the wake of the faceoff between Binance and the Nigerian government. According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Yemi Cardoso, there was an illicit inflow of about $26 billion through Binance in the last year via “unknown sources”.

The Nigerian government claims the platform engages in foreign exchange rate manipulation through currency speculation and rate fixing. (Channels)