By Adedapo Adesanya
The local currency opened the new week on a negative note on Monday, losing N2.33 or 0.59 per cent against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market, closing at N398.50/$1 in contrast to N396.17/$1 it ended at the segment last Friday.
This drop in the value of the domestic currency at the I&E window happened despite a decline in demand for the greenback at the market segment yesterday.
At the close of the session, investors exchanged a total of $57.78 million, this was lesser than the previous session’s $96.82 million by 40.3 per cent or $39.04 million.
Business Post reports that at the other segments of the market, there was stability as the Naira retained its previously traded rates against the greenback.
At the interbank segment of the forex market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) still sold the Dollar to commercial banks on Monday at N379/$1.
At the parallel market, forex traders sold the Dollar to their customers at N480/$1, the same rate it went for at the previous trading session.
However, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Pound Sterling changed as a result of the N2 lost by the local currency, closing N655/£1 compared to N653/£1 it was traded last Friday.
But against the Euro at the same black market, the local currency appreciated by N3 to quote at N575/€1 in contrast to N578/€1 of the preceding session.
Meanwhile, despite the Nigerian financial regulatory authority clamp down on cryptocurrency trading, the digital token market is showing no sign of slowing down.
Last Friday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ordered financial institutions in the country to reject cryptocurrency transactions and block any related accounts.
It said in a statement on Sunday, the bank explained that it took this action because the digital currency was being used for money laundering and terrorism.
On Monday, the electric car maker, Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, an advocate of cryptocurrency, revealed it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoins.
The company said in a filing with the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission that it bought bitcoin for “more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash.”
This action was instrumental in driving the price of the currency up by 29.3 per cent to sell for N20,430,005.18.
This also reflected in other coins as Ethereum (ETH) saw its value go up by 5.7 per cent to N775,009.00, Ripple (XRP) recorded a 12.5 per cent appreciation to sell at N208, while Litecoin (LTC) made a 16.2 per cent gain to settle at N73,202.
Also, Dash (DASH) recorded a 19.2 per cent jump to sell at N56,358, the United States Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 2.3 per cent to sell for N447.12, while Tron (TRX) surged by 26.9 per cent to trade at N19.01.
Modupe Gbadeyanka