Nigerians concerned about potential crypto crackdown as currency declines by 15% and officials point fingers at Binance

Nigerian officials are targeting peer-to-peer crypto trading as the reason for the fall of the naira. The situation with crypto in Africa’s largest nation is escalating.

Nigeria’s crypto investors are experiencing a sense of déjà vu.

And it’s alarming.

The country’s fiat currency, the naira, has decreased in value by 15% against the US dollar in the past seven days.

Previously, when a similar situation occurred, Nigeria’s government banned Binance, apprehended two of its executives, and charged them with money laundering and tax evasion.

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Record low

This decrease has thwarted the one-month effort by the Central Bank of Nigeria to bolster the naira’s value after it hit its lowest level ever in the foreign exchange market.

Once again, authorities are pointing fingers at crypto peer-to-peer trading for the decline, despite Binance being forced out of the market last month, according to Nigerian officials with knowledge of the situation.

Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stated that it has uncovered alleged foreign exchange malpractice that is “worse than Binance.”

Court intervention

EFCC chairman Ola Olukoyede mentioned in a meeting on Tuesday that “It was due to the activities of some of these guys on P2P platforms like ‘coolcoin,’” in regard to the dollar appreciation.

The EFCC secured a court order on Monday to freeze 300 accounts linked to such activities. One trader reportedly facilitated $15 billion in P2P transactions last year, according to the EFCC.

For Nigerian crypto investors, this situation is reminiscent of previous crackdowns on exchanges like KuCoin, ByBit, and OKX.

No immediate ban

Rume Ophi, executive secretary of the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria, believes a crypto ban is improbable.

“I don’t see a crypto ban on the horizon because this government promised to utilize crypto and blockchain technology to enhance our financial sector,” Ophi stated on Wednesday.

Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent, covering DeFi and tech. For tips or story information, contact him at osato@dlnews.com.

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