By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerians trading cryptocurrency on Luno will be able to deposit and withdraw in local currency from November, the trading platform said on Monday.
“We’re thrilled to announce that deposits and withdrawals in Naira will resume on the Luno platform in November,” Luno told its users in an email seen by this newspaper.
Business Post had reported that Luno halted naira deposits and withdrawals for Nigerian cryptocurrency traders in February after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) placed a ban on crypto trading.
The Nigerian apex bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, claimed that cryptocurrency and virtual currencies were largely used in terrorism financing and money laundering, considering the anonymity of virtual transactions.
The ban on cryptocurrency forced changes in the operations of Luno and other Nigerian fintech companies into cryptocurrency trading with many opting for peer-to-peer but not Luno, which reiterated that it was in discussions with the central bank.
Despite the good news, Luno disclosed that the withdrawal and depositing of funds for Nigerian users will be done through a third-party platform.
“You will be able to deposit and withdraw funds to and from the Luno platform using vouchers purchased and redeemed through a trusted third-party provider,” Luno said.
“We believe that this is the safest and easiest-to-use solution currently available to our customers in Nigeria and look forward to you experiencing it for yourselves.
Luno warns users that it “does not set the price of bitcoin or any cryptocurrencies, we only facilitate transactions between customers.
“The return of Naira deposits and withdrawals may cause significant price volatility, with the release of pent-up customer demand to buy and sell cryptocurrency causing unusual market behaviour that could last for several weeks,” Luno said in a message seen by this newspaper today.
While the cryptocurrency ban is still in place, many Nigerian crypto traders are navigating the regulation through P2P trading and other third-party platforms to continue cryptocurrency trading.
Dipo Olowookere