A presidential aide to Nigeria’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for a ban on Binance and KuCoin to protect the nation’s weakening currency.
Bayo Onanuga serves as an adviser to the President on information and strategy. He claimed these crypto exchanges were partly responsible for the naira’s continued depreciation and its downfall in the forex market.
Nigerian Presidential Aide Seeks Binance Ban
Some others believe that Binance and other platforms aid illicit financial activities within the country.
The Naira-Dollar manipulators
I chanced on an X post Tuesday night by one Brother Bernard @Mikael C Bernard who railed against what he called the order of the EFCC, NSA on Finance to set a cap on traders selling USD tokens for Naira equivalent.
He disclosed that token sellers… pic.twitter.com/c9YBjawJMz
— Bayo Onanuga (@aonanuga1956) February 21, 2024
Onanuga, in a post on X, claimed most Nigerian users on Binance were manipulating the currency and were being unpatriotic. He went on to call on the country’s financial crimes watchdog, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to take swift action against these exchanges.
In addition, Onanuga urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sanction these platforms as protective measures. He wrote, “The EFCC and the CBN should move against these platforms trying to manipulate our national currency to Ground Zero. Crypto should be banned in our country, or else this bleeding of our currency will continue unabated.”
Anybody having problem with opening @binance from Nigeria?
I am hearing rumors that you can only now access Binance app with VPN from Nigeria.
I just hope they haven’t blocked @binance in Nigeria pic.twitter.com/Q1LxSM3x0k
— CryptoLord NE 📊📈 (@CryptoDefiLord) February 21, 2024
In addition, Onanuga urged Nigeria to ban Binance due to its regulatory issues abroad and its influence on the naira’s pricing. Recall that Binance has faced difficulties in the US, the Netherlands, Greece, and other countries.
I swear this is the dvmbest pdf I’ve read till the end, I kept hoping you’ll give an actual solution to the naira crisis not propose some draconian, tyrannical approach of banning and banning and banning with a little accusation of treason there, of course you are an APC…
— Khan Malip (@De_GreatKhan) February 21, 2024
However, responding to these claims, Binance clarified that its platform is “market-driven and not intended to be a proxy for currency pricing in Nigeria.” The exchange also showed a willingness to cooperate with local authorities and capped the selling price of the USDT stablecoin on its P2P market.
All this wave your feeling on Twitter are paid accounts that wants you to sell your coin/usdt, and they want to shake people with binance is down. If binance has to be down they send you notice cause they are not autocratic like Nigeria.
The panick is for you to sell !! pic.twitter.com/gs2l05Hbvp— C in C (@Charleschidube) February 21, 2024
Nigerians Seek Other Alternatives
Some Nigerian crypto users said they were unable to access Binance and other exchanges on Wednesday, February 21. Binance, in an email sent to its Nigerian users, said its app remained accessible as the situation only affected its online exchange. The trading platform also assured users of the safety of their funds and its commitment to resolving the ongoing situation.
Nigerians turned to crypto and platforms like Binance in 2021 following the country’s cryptocurrency ban. However, some users consider decentralized exchanges a safer alternative because centralized platforms are prone to censorship.
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