Breaking: Binance Leaves Nigerian Market, Ends Services In Local Currency

Following the ongoing dispute over regulations in Nigeria, a cryptocurrency giant, Binance Holdings Limited has announced its plan to stop its operation in Nigeria and no longer offer services for the naira, the country’s fiat currency.

New Telegraph reports that this is coming barely 24 hours after the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes has recommended the immediate arrest of the Chief Executive Officer of Binance Holding Ltd over alleged tax invasion and money laundering in Nigeria.

The recommendation followed a motion by Rep. Isah Dogonyaro (APC- Jigawa state) at a public hearing on Monday in Abuja.

According to the statement issued on the company website on Tuesday, March 5, the cryptocurrency exchange will stop accepting NGN deposits after 14:00 UTC today, however, it will automatically convert Naira holdings to USDT starting on March 8 at 8:00 a.m. UTC.

It further stated that the support for withdrawals will end on March 8 at 6:00 a.m. UTC.

The announcement added that the exchange rate for automated conversions will be 1 USDT for every 1,515.13 naira.

On March 7 at 3:00 a.m. UTC, all spot trading pairs against the naira will be removed from the market. For these pairings, open-spot orders will be terminated automatically.

At different times, Binance Convert, Binance P2P, the exchange’s Auto Invest function, and Binance Pay will likewise stop supporting the naira.