On Sunday, January 30th 2022, Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges announced restrictions on Nigerian users. The company had to take this step because users refused to follow their country’s regulations on anti-money laundering. This, to ensure the platform’s security for other traders. Close to 40% the blocked accounts have been shut down for not following international laws. This adds up to 281 trading accounts.
In a statement, the exchange said that it has many restrictions like know your customer and others in place to ensure protection for the whole community. The restriction request was made by the international law enforcement officials.
Many Nigerian traders who use Binance regularly said they were not able to set up or even complete a transaction. Users of this country in West Africa have had to deal with many challenges related to crypto trading since the country’s Central Bank ordered the shut down of digital currency accounts. Lending institutions were also asked not to deal with crypto exchanges.
Despite this edict, Nigerians continued to use crypto to place hedges against inflation in their country and the devaluing of their currency, the Naira. They have also been using crypto to send money. According to statistics, many citizens hold record levels of such assets per person compared to the rest of the world.
Binance has looked into and resolve close to 80% of cases related to account restrictions and plans to use more resources to resolve the problem. It believes the issue should be cleared up in a couple of weeks.
