By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira opened the week stronger against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Monday, September 27.
At the specialised window, the local currency appreciated by 7 kobo or 0.02 per cent to trade at N414.83/$1 compared with N414.90/$1 it quoted last Friday.
At the I&E window yesterday, the demand for the foreign currencies moderated, according to data harvested by Business Post from FMDQ Securities Exchange.
Transactions worth $130.83 million were executed at the FX market segment during the trading day in contrast to the $193.59 million carried out at the previous session, indicating a decline by 32.4 per cent or $62.76 million.
The strengthening of the domestic currency against its American counterpart coincided with the news that the website for the country’s proposed digital currency, eNaira, went live ahead of its October 1, 2021, launch. The electronic legal tender aims to provide a unique form of money denominated in Naira.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has touted that the currency serves as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments.
Meanwhile, at the interbank window of the forex market, the value of the fiat Naira depreciated by one kobo yesterday as it closed at N410.71/$1 versus last Friday’s N410.70/$1.
Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market on Monday, the announcement of the Chinese government on digital assets further waned the interests of investors.
Last week, China banned all cryptocurrency trading and mining. Ten powerful Chinese government bodies said in a joint statement last week that overseas exchanges were barred from providing services to mainland investors via the internet and vowed to jointly root out illegal cryptocurrency activities.
Yesterday, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 3.4 per cent to sell at N1,288.06, Binance Coin (BNB) dropped 3.1 per cent to N139,212.26, Litecoin (LTC) lost 2.8 per cent to trade at N84,599.99, Bitcoin (BTC) slid by 2.4 per cent to trade at N24,404,777.84, Dogecoin (DOGE) also lost 2.4 per cent to sell at N119.78, while Ethereum (ETH) fell by 1.9 per cent to sell at N1,727,583.96.
Further, Tron (TRX) declined by 1.8 per cent to sell for N50.35, Dash (DASH) went down by 1.6 per cent to trade at N91,925.99, Ripple (XRP) made a 1.2 per cent depreciation to trade at N532.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) dropped 0.9 per cent to sell for N575.76.
