By Adedapo Adesanya
On Friday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) threw the cryptocurrency market in the country into confusion after it released a circular, directing financial institutions to close the bank accounts of those involved in the exchange of the digital currency.
In fact, the issue had been the major topic since yesterday. Already, many investors in the space have been withdrawing their funds in panic, while the cryptocurrency trading platforms are making efforts to douse the tension.
On Friday evening, one of the popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, Quidax, sent a notice to its customers, assuring them that things would soon be sorted out.
The company also informed traders that they can still continue the business of trading digital currencies through its platform, calling for calm.
Quidax informed its customers that engagements are already ongoing with the CBN and the payments partners regarding the new controversial policy.
“Your Naira and crypto are SAFE. Meaning your funds are safe and you have nothing to worry about. You can buy more crypto, sell it, send it and even receive more crypto.
“We are currently keeping an eye out and have engaged the CBN as well as our payment partners regarding this policy.
“Once we get more updates regarding the situation you will be the first to know,” the notice seen by Business Post last night disclosed.
However, Quidax expressed its disappointment over the directive, which has sparked a dialogue on the stifling of innovation in the country.
It assured its customers that it foresaw such a directive and had planned for the rainy days.
According to the platform, customers cannot deposit the local currency but explained that withdrawals were slow, noting that this was understandable because of the rising panic among investors.
“Sadly, deposits through all channels have been temporarily paused as CBN’s policy affects our payments partners.
“Withdrawals are still going through but are slower than usual,” the statement further said.
In the meantime, Quidax has urged its customers to keep calm and relax and asked them to contact through its customer support channel.
Analysts expect many Nigerians to start selling off their crypto assets following the directive.
