Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira gained 88 kobo or 0.21 per cent against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, May 19.
Business Post reports that when the market closed for the day, the value of the Naira stood at N410.75/$1 in contrast to the N411.63/$1 it ended on Tuesday.
The gained strength yesterday to withstand the demand pressure it came under as the value of transactions at the I&E FX window surged by $72.36 million or 122.9 per cent as trades worth $131.16 million were recorded at the session compared with the $58.88 million achieved a day before.
But at the parallel market, the Naira remained unchanged against the US Dollar and the Pound Sterling but appreciated against the Euro.
The local closed flat against the American currency at N485/$1 and against the British currency at N678/£1, but gained N1 against the European currency to close at N582/€1 in contrast to N583/£1 it settled a day earlier.
Bitcoin, Others Plunge as China Widens Crypto Crackdown
Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin and other digital currencies plunged in one of the worst trading days after the world’s second-largest economy, China, took more steps to crack down on the virtual coins.
China said that financial institutions and payment companies should not participate in any transactions related to cryptocurrency, or provide crypto-related services to their clients.
This contributed to a shaky market that had earlier been impacted by Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Elon Musk, who said he was wary of the environmental impact of mining Bitcoin, adding that his company was halting the acceptance of the token as payment for its cars.
As of the time of this report, all tracked currency benchmarked by this platform was still in the negative territory.
Bitcoin (BTC) saw its value dip further by 23.5 per cent to trade at N16,000,087.00; Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 21.9 per cent to sell at N1,332, 800.00, while Ripple (XRP) went down by 26.7 per cent to trade at N565.99.
Also, the Dash (DASH) plunged by 36.1 per cent to sell at N110,001.01; Litecoin (LTC) dropped 28.4 per cent to trade at N108,887.00; Tron (TRX) went down by 21.9 per cent to sell for N46.00, while the United States Dollar Tether (USDT) depreciated by 3.2 per cent to sell at N500.29.
