Calm as Naira Appreciates at Midweek as Cryptos Woes Continue

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated strongly against the Dollar at the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) window of the foreign exchange market by N10 to N840/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N850/$1.

Also, in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the fx market, the Naira appreciated against the greenback by 43 Kobo or 0.1 per cent to sell at N445.67/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s rate of N446.10/$1.

The local currency gained strength in the spot market yesterday amid a 27.9 per cent or $20.32 million increase in the value of forex transactions to $93.01 million from the $72.69 million achieved a day earlier.

The local currency had suffered turbulence in the past days after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) moved to redesign and issue new Naira notes by mid-December, a policy which critics and analysts say, coupled with worsening inflation, has plunged the fragile foreign exchange market into disarray.

The effect is still being felt in the black market as the domestic currency suffered another loss on Wednesday by N20 to trade at N820/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N800/$1.

In the interbank window, the local currency weakened against the Pound Sterling on Wednesday by 17 Kobo to trade at N504.62/£1 compared to the previously traded rate of N504.45/£1, and against the Euro, the domestic currency lost 79 Kobo to wrap the day at 440.53/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N439.74/€1.

In the cryptocurrency market, the bears tightened their grip on the cryptos amid the ongoing fallout from crypto exchange FTX’s distress.

A proposed sale to rival Binance collapsed on Wednesday after Binance indicated that it wouldn’t see through its non-binding letter of intent after reviewing FTX’s internal data and loan commitments.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), fell by 9.6 per cent to $16,608.98, while Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 9.2 per cent to trade at $1,183.55, with Solana (SOL) declining by 27.8 per cent to $15.05.

Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 10.9 per cent to sell at $282.78, Litecoin (LTC) crashed by 8.5 per cent to $54.19, Cardano (ADA) went down by 5.9 per cent to $0.3474, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 5.8 per cent to $0.0816, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.8 per cent to $0.03696, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) recorded a 0.2 per cent loss to finish at $0.9978.

However, Binance USD (BUSD) appreciated by 0.12 per cent to sell at $1.00.