By Adedapo Adesanya
The new task force formed by the Nigerian government has allegedly ordered Binance and possibly other peer-2-peer (P2P) exchanges to set a cap on traders selling the US Dollar Tether (USDT).
The joint force, which includes the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in conjunction with the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other government parastatals has set a cap at slightly above N1,800/USDT.
This move will see traders who go above 1802/$ kicked off the platform due to local regulations, which are a wider part of measures towards keeping the dwindling foreign exchange market afloat.
The Nigerian government’s decision to move against Binance and other crypto firms indicates a fresh approach to fight currency speculators and what it claims are money launderers who were using these exchanges to facilitate and execute criminal activities.
This is yet another unorthodox step being considered by Nigeria to tackle the issues affecting the country’s economic stability.
The CBN had over the last couple of weeks applied monetary measures including boosting FX liquidity, removing caps on international transfers, and delaying oil companies’ FX returns to help the market.
Regardless, the volatility in the market remained across both controlled and unregulated markets.
The platform said this move will help provide a market-driven, fraud-free, and manipulation-free platform for users.
“We take our responsibility to protect users very seriously. To be clear: if users are behaving in a malicious or manipulative way, they will be removed from the platform,” a statement said.
“We are always investing in improving our processes and tools, which includes setting an upper limit for ads, filtering and removing bad ads, requiring and raising deposits for merchants posting ads as well as processes for actioning against any market manipulators,” it said.
The exchange said it is working hand in hand with local authorities, lawmakers, and regulators to ensure it acts on non-compliance. Our shared goal is to protect users while promoting innovation.
