Business
Binance expresses desire to work with Nigerian govt amid ban concerns
Binance, leading crypto trading platform, has expressed readiness to work with the Nigerian authorities amid calls in some quarters for its ban in the wake of naira rapid fall.
This is as the peer-to-peer exchange, capped the selling price of cryptocurrency stablecoin, Tether, on its platform.
Binance in a blog post on its website on Wednesday, said its P-2-P platform is market-driven and not for currency pricing in Nigeria.
“Binance provides a P2P marketplace, not as a price discovery platform. To be clear: it is market-driven and is not intended to be a proxy for currency pricing in Nigeria,” it said.
“To protect users, and to prevent any abuse, our system automatically pauses in the event of a period of significant currency movement.
“Late last night, we observed a temporary suppression of prices that briefly reached our system limit. We quickly made the necessary adjustments to allow trading to continue.”
Binance declared that it had stringent measures in place to protect users in the market, including real-time monitoring, immediate removal of non-compliant advertisements, and permanent removal of bad actors from using its P2P product.
“Continuous market surveillance ensures the prompt removal of abnormal prices, supported by a fixed security deposit,” it added.
Binance further revealed that it would continue to work with regulatory authorities, saying, “It is important to note that foreign exchange rates are influenced by various complex factors, which Binance does not influence on.
“However, we continue to actively engage with regulators, policymakers and other relevant stakeholders to foster an open transparent dialogue about managing the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency and financial markets.
“We remain dedicated to providing market-driven, fraud-free, and manipulation-free products for users. We take our responsibility to protect users and their confidential data very seriously.”
Presidential aide, Bayo Onanuga, had lashed out at Binance on Wednesday, saying, “It was blatantly setting exchange rate for Nigeria, hijacking CBN role.
“Binance, facing regulatory showdown in many countries, and causing disruptions in the currency market, should not be allowed to dictate the value of the naira, not on its crypto exchange platform. Other crypto platforms such as Kucoin, and Bybit should be banned from operating in our cyberspace. FX platform Aboki should be re-banned.
“The EFCC and the CBN should move against these platforms trying to manipulate our national currency to Ground Zero. Crypto should be banned in our country or else this bleeding of our currency will continue unabated.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria has been making concerted efforts in recent times to tackle forex speculation and its effects on the Nigerian currency.
On Monday, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission raided some bureau de change outlets in Abuja, arresting currency traders suspected to be speculating against the naira.
On the official window, the naira closed at 1551.24/$ on Tuesday.
