As the crackdown on cryptocurrencies in Nigeria continues, crypto exchange platform ‘Kucoin’ has suspended trading activities within its platform using the Naira.
- The suspension was made weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission in Nigeria met with crypto stakeholders and requested them to stop all their platforms’ peer-to-peer transactions using the local currency.
- Peer-to-peer trading in cryptocurrencies allows individuals to buy and sell directly, eliminating the need for a third party in the transaction.
- Before Kucoin delisted the Naira from its platform, two other cryptos including Binance and OKX had also suspended the currency as scrutiny from government authorities heightened.
“As part of ongoing efforts to enhance our services, Kucoin will temporarily suspend all p2p Naira services and Fast Buy service via Naira card,” Kucoin notified its users.
The Nigerian government maintains its position that peer-to-peer transactions in crypto platforms have attracted unauthorized FX trading that is responsible for the Naira’s unabated slide against the dollar. By May 15, the Dollar to Naira exchange rate stood at 1,534.
Attempts to clamp down on crypto platforms, Fintech accounts, and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s imposition of tougher rules in the financial sector have not yielded any successful results.
The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Emomotimi Agama, rallied crypto traders in the joint meeting held three weeks ago, to collaborate with Nigerian authorities in its war against financial crooks destabilizing the nation’s currency.
“We ask that those involved in sharp practices that undermine national interest should cease and desist. It is in our interest as a people to protect what belongs to us. We encourage you to reach out to us by naming and shaming the bad actors,” he said.
However, some crypto traders in the country have blamed the government for adopting an aggressive policy on Africa’s largest crypto market. According to them, Nigeria’s currency slump is a result of many years of macroeconomic failure and not a flash crisis. There is raging skepticism within their midst that the country is only gaining to exercise ironclad control in a sector that reviles centralized control.
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