By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, May 18.
At the specialised market, the domestic currency lost 13 kobo or 0.03 per cent to trade at N411.63/$1 in contrast to N411.50/$1 it traded on Monday.
The local currency performed badly at the market window yesterday despite a decline in the demand for FX by customers.
It was observed that the decline in the value of the Nigerian currency against its American counterpart was caused by a shortage in the supply of FX to the market segment.
According to data obtained by Business Post from FMDQ Securities Exchange, transactions worth $58.88 million were executed in contrast to the $111.53 million recorded on Monday, signifying a decline by 47.2 per cent or $52.65 million.
But at the black market, the local traded flat against the US Dollar, closing at N484/$1. The Naira was also stable against the Pound Sterling at the parallel market at N678/£1.
However, it lost N2 against the Euro at the unregulated segment of the forex market to close at N583/€1 compared to N581/€1 it traded on Monday.
Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) took a heavy battering as investors appetite for the asset waned, causing its value to plunge by 6.1 per cent to trade at N20,301,001.09.
Also, the Dash (DASH) went down by 0.6 per cent to quote at N161,001.00, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to sell for N504.05.
But the Ethereum (ETH) had a good day on Tuesday as its value went up by 3.2 per cent to sell at N1,702,500.15. The Ripple (XRP) improved by 6.6 per cent to trade at N805.97, the Litecoin (LTC) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at N151,999.99, while the Tron (TRX) appreciated by 1.0 per cent to sell at N58.98.
