From Victor Osula, Abuja
Following the House of Representatives threat on Monday to issue a warrant of arrest on Binance Chief Executive Officer, Changpeng Zhao, over the failure of the company’s executives to appear in person before the House investigation panel, the company has concluded plans to exit Nigeria.
The House is investigating a petition on the financing of terrorism, money laundering, tax evasion, and other financial crimes levied against the group
The Cryptocurrency exchange platform on Tuesday announced that it will stop providing all services related to the Nigerian naira (NGN).
Binance, in a statement published on its website on Tuesday, said, “Starting at 8:00 UTC on March 8, all remaining NGN balances in Binance users’ accounts will be automatically converted to USDT stablecoin.”
Until this time, it advised users to withdraw NGN as deposits will be suspended on March 5. In addition, Binance will completely stop supporting NGN in spot trading, P2P, Auto Invest, and Binance Pay.
“We thank you for your support as we continue to build the crypto ecosystem in a way that promotes transparency and long-term sustainable growth,” said Binance.
The Federal Government had slammed a $10 billing n fine on the organization for allegedly influencing the foreign exchange rate in the country.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, told BBC on Friday that people used Binance to arbitrarily fix dollar-naira rates, a practice he said negatively impacted the value of the local currency. He also claimed that Binance is not a registered company in Nigeria.
He said, ‘The platform fixes the exchange rate in Nigeria, which is illegal, as the Central Bank of Nigeria is the only authority that can fix the exchange rate for Nigeria.
“Binance harbours a lot of people who fix exchange rates which impacted the country badly at a time when the government is trying to stabilize the economy.”
Also on Tuesday, February 27, Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said $26 billion passed through Binance Nigeria from unidentified sources in one year.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had on February 21, blocked online platforms, including Binance and other crypto firms to avert the continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.
