Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, has announced its decision to cease operations in Nigeria due to regulatory challenges with the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regarding foreign exchange regulations. Customers have been given until March 8, 2024, to withdraw their funds, following the halt of naira deposits starting from March 5, 2024. In a statement yesterday, Binance stated: “Binance will discontinue all Nigerian Naira (NGN) services as per the timeline below. Users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets, or convert NGN into crypto before the discontinuation of these NGN services.”
The firm further stated that effective from 9 am on March 8, 2024, any remaining NGN balances in users’ accounts would be automatically converted to USDT at a rate of 1 USDT per N1,515.13. “Additionally, all spot trading pairs against the naira will be delisted on March 7 at 3:00 a.m. UTC, with open spot orders for these pairs being automatically closed. “Furthermore, Binance Convert, Binance P2P, the exchange’s Auto Invest feature, and Binance Pay will cease support for the naira at various dates and times,” Binance emphasized that the conversion rate was calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days. The conversion process may take up to 24 hours or longer, with USDT tokens being credited to users’ Spot wallets thereafter.
