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Binance Lists the Nigerian Naira on its Exchange Platform in Partnership with Flutterwaves

Binance has announced its listing of the Nigerian Naira on its exchange in collaboration with Flutterwaves, a Nigerian company that is poised to help banks and businesses build secure and seamless payments solution for their customers.

Trading pairs which include BUSD/NGN, BNB/NGN, and BTC/NGN were also added to the Stablecoin Market (USDⓈ), this means that users can now use Naira deposits to purchase BUSD, BNB, and BTC. This development, which was announced on the official Binance blog on October 24, 2019, has been received with a lot of excitement from many Nigerians as the nation has seen a tremendous level of increased interest in cryptocurrencies in recent times.

In a bid to promote its first fiat listing on the exchanger, Binance has made a zero fee deposit through Flutterwaves of up to N36,000 ($100) for all newly registered users starting from October 24, 2019.

The exchange has also committed a sum of N3,600,000 ($10,000) to reward newly registered users who make deposits on the exchange before 7:00 AM UTC. The rewards would be shared on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Expressing himself on the new partnership, CZ, CEO of Binance, he said: “Africa has illustrated one of the largest demands and instrumental use cases for cryptocurrency, notably for financial access, in the world’s second-largest continent.”

He also added that,

“In sub-Saharan Africa, about 90 million people remain unbanked while many regions in the area, including Nigeria, have embraced new technologies with an increasing amount of innovation. Working with Flutterwave will help bridge the fiat-to-crypto gap, and we hope to stimulate more financial inclusion as Africa demonstrates strong potential in leading crypto adoption.”

CEO of Flutterwave Olugbenga Agboola also reiterated the mission of the company saying that: “What we do at Flutterwave is, create possibilities for the everyday African to become prosperous. (….) that is what this partnership is about.”

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Nigerians Set to Enjoy Remittances at 1% Cost Through the Strategic Partnership Between Dash And Bitfxt

There has been a strategic partnership between Dash and Bitfxt, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Nigeria, to allow Nigerians to enjoy remittances at a lower cost.

According to the report, this partnership is meant to ensure that Nigeria’s crypto-enthusiasts enjoy remittances at a very affordable rate. While Dash is deemed as a leading digital asset for remittances and international payments with secure, fast and affordable transactions, Bitfxt aims to bring more liquidity to the Nigerian crypto market. The recent development indicates that the team has decided to bridge the gap in remittances for Nigerians through the use of Dash at a 1% cost.

Since it has been identified that sending remittances to Nigeria through the use of gift cards on Paxful is very expensive, as high as 30%, Dash and Bitfxt have come together to minimize such excessive cost. Through this establishment, for volumes of $200 and above remittances, the recipient will receive Dash and can then convert to Naira at the cost of 1% while the conversion rate for volumes of remittances below $200 will be at 2%.

According to the report, in 2018 diaspora remittances to Nigeria were more than oil earnings. It went further to note that a PwC report estimated that diaspora remittances to Nigeria were in the region of $25 billion which represented 6.1% of GDP. This, in turn, represented a 14% increase from the 2017 estimate of $22 billion.

The report held that Nathaniel Luz, the Lead of Dash Nigeria, said, “This move is clearly in tune with the motive of Dash as a digital currency that is meant to always be at the disposal of people with respect to international payments and remittances.”

In the same vein, Franklin Odoemenam, Bitfxt CEO, shared this partnership is indeed the vision of Bitfxt as the leading crypto infrastructure company in Africa which is aimed to connect Africa to the world. For Odoemenam, this partnership is meant to grant access to cryptocurrency for thousands of new people which will give them a better alternative of remitting money and experience. He added, “There’s no other way to grow adoption than the daily use of crypto and that is what this partnership does, opening up thousands of new people to crypto for better money remitting experience.”

Luz believed that the necessity of Dash for developing economies like Nigeria cannot be overemphasized, as there is the issue of high fees from the existing financial infrastructures.

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7 Steps in Luno: How to Convert Your USD to Nigerian Naira Using Bitcoin

In recent times cryptocurrencies have been gaining a lot more recognition than in the past, it is almost accurate to say that the speed at which they have been gaining recognition is almost exponential. Bitcoin has the largest market dominance has seen a steady increase from the end of 2019 to date.

Africa happens to be one of the regions in the world that have been responsible for this sudden surge. With Nigeria being at the forefront of this race, Google trend had indicatedan increase in the Google search for Bitcoin for the last few months. Considering the fact that the country has been experiencing some relatively troublesome economic situations, it is not uncorrelated with the efforts its citizens have been making which is a clear pointer that they are now seeing this digital currency as a more stable alternative.

According to the latest World Bank report, in 2019, 9.3% of the value to be transferred is charged as the cost of sending funds to sub-Saharan Africa via regular Remittance services — with Nigeria being the highest user — This is said to be the highest remittance rate anywhere around the world.

Besides the relatively unstable economy, the number of Nigerians in diaspora have been on the increase and seeing that cryptocurrencies are a better alternative to remittance services offered by local financial operators, migrants in need of sending funds to their friends and loved ones are gradually resorting to the use of Bitcoin to escape the exorbitant charges by the banks and other financial operators.

This newly found interest also explains the recent increase in the number of exchange platforms that have been springing up to meet this growing demand for liquidity within this space. Some platforms where Nigerians can receive funds in dollars or Bitcoin and convert to Naira has been seen as a way out of the too many constraints fiat presents, they include Luno, LocalBitcoins, Paxful, Bitpesa, to mention but a few.

In this article, we would be explaining in detail the steps to take in opening an account as well as the process of conversion of USD/BTC to Naira. We would be using Luno which happens to be one of the country’s oldest and trusted exchange platforms.

Luno (formerly known as BitX) offers a 0% fee for users who make liquidity by placing an order while market takers are meant to pay a fee between 0% to 1% for the Nigerian Naira. Bank transfers and credit card deposits can also be made on the platform easily, while bank transfers are free, credit card deposits will incur a fee.

The ease of use, low fees, and high transaction limits are some of the major features that endear it to many Nigerians, thereby giving it a very positive reputation. Besides the BTC/NGN trading pair, Luno also has other Bitcoin trading pairs which include:

BTC/EUR

BTC/ZAR

BTC/MYR

BTC/IDR

Below are the steps to receive and convert your US Dollars or BTC to Nigerian Naira:

Step 1: Visit the Luno website to create an account.

Step 2: Sign up to create an account and sign in using your registered email and password.

Step 3: Select the purpose of opening the account. Note that this is what Luno will use to determine what kind of account a user intends to open.

In this case for “receiving funds into the country”.

Step 4: Now to receive Bitcoin go to the Homepage and click on the BTC option.

Step 5: Click on the receive icon to reveal the wallet address and a bar code to receive BTC.

Step 6: Name your wallet and scan the barcode or copy the wallet address and paste as a message to the sender.

Step 7: Select BTC as the currency you would like to sell and input the amount.

Finally, click on “Next”, now when you get your Naira, link your account to the Luno platform and transfer to your account. It would take a little while for the balance to reflect but after you do that all you have to do is wait for your account to be credited.

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Binance Enables Support for Naira, But is Cryptocurrency Legal in Yet in Nigeria?

Binance, one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges in the world has opened support for the Nigerian National currency (Naira) on its trading platform. This move will automatically allow the crypto traders in Nigeria to directly purchase and sell cryptocurrency with the Nigerian Naira. This move is the first by Binance in Africa to enable fiat for trading on its platforms.

In recent times the country has been seen to have experienced an increase in the level of interest within the crypto-space. While addressing the latest development, Binance CEO, Chanpeng Zhao stated that Nigeria’s advanced innovation space, as well as the drive Nigerians, have shown towards cryptocurrency, gave the platform no other choice than to open support for the National currency. The charismatic CEO further commented, “We strive to provide the easiest cryptocurrency access and best trading service for the African community, and P2P trading is a more flexible approach, giving users the freedom to choose their payment methods and counterparty in a trade.”

The addition of Naira is supported with the following pair and users can trade it against popular currencies like BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB and more. This can be done through peer-to-peer with other users and verified merchants at zero cost of the transaction using both the website and App. Additionally, users with a reliable fiat base and cryptocurrency can apply to become a merchant of P2P, post-trade adverts while earning cash in return on the Binance platform.

Is cryptocurrency legal yet in Nigeria?

Although it is not fully recognized by regulatory bodies, neither is there a legal action for or against the use of cryptocurrency in the country, but cryptocurrency exchange which includes trading and selling of digital assets or fiats is becoming a booming business in the country. As merchants spring up across the Nation, many people are already involved in buying and selling of cryptocurrency.

As such, initiatives like this will only make trading in the space easier and far more appealing for more people.

With the rate the Nigerian community is embracing blockchain and cryptocurrency, moves like this will tend to see more people interested in joining the space thereby creating a platform where the country can become one of the early adopters of cryptocurrency.

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Bitcoin in Africa: Cryptocurrency and P2P Bitcoin Trade Surge Across the African Continent

According to recent data and reports, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption are soaring across Africa.

Cryptocurrency adoption and peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions are on the rise across the African continent. There have been significant advances across Africa for crypto adoption in terms of regulation, trade volume, and reported cryptocurrency ownership.

Currently Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya frequently rank among the top 10 countries for Bitcoin Google searches according to a recent report by Arcane Research and Luno.

The research emphasizes that Africa is, “one of, if not the most promising regions” for cryptocurrency adoption as it exhibits a young and largely underbanked or unbanked population who are often forced to use expensive forms of money remittance.Crypto P2P Trades Surge Across Africa

The report found that South Africa had taken the lead on the continent for having the highest percentage of crypto ownership at 13% followed by Nigeria at 11%. South Africans also rank fifth globally for crypto adopters.

This week saw a surge in P2P trade activity for South Africa, allowing them to edge out Kenya with nearly $2 million in trade across Paxful and Localbitcoins.

South African’s appear to be reacting to the recent news of financial regulators taking virtual assets more seriously. Regulators in SA recently issued a policy document that asserts that crypto-assets and activities relating to them “can no longer remain outside the regulatory perimeter.”

Paxful in Africa: #BuiltWithBitcoin

Ray Youseff, CEO and Founder of the Paxful peer-to-peer marketplace also commented on the Bitcoin boom in Africa and the need for further education to ensure the people take advantage of this avenue to financial inclusion.

As part of its mission to provide equal access to the financial system, Paxful launched the #BuiltWithBitcoin, a social good initiative with the goal of building 100 schools funded entirely by bitcoin all across emerging markets. Youssef said, “There are 2 schools in Rwanda, and currently building the 3rd one in Machakos County, Kenya.” He added, “Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets in Paxful. We had an education drive focused on universities last year beginning with universities in East and Southern Africa, the initiative has reached over 1000 youths. The education workshops provided key, practical insights to the true use cases of Bitcoin, how to avoid falling prey to bad actors in the crypto-space and served to counter the over-emphasis on Bitcoin speculation.”

Beyond the talking points, how does greater financial inclusion benefit the global economy, and what problems remain in Youssef’s view? He explained, “The flow of wealth and money helps to make the economy more liquid and create more jobs. Providing an equal financial system bolsters this process by providing more participants and more opportunities to them. This often means new and creative ecosystems to help people and solve their problems will emerge which will provide people with jobs and a source of income.”

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Paxful Research Reveals How Nigerians Are Fighting Devaluation of Native Currency Naira with Bitcoin

The current pandemic has led to a devaluation of Nigeria’s native currency Naira and affected how cryptocurrency trades are conducted in the country.

Devaluation of Naira

With the devaluation of Naira (NGN) from 2018 to now, the exchange rate of Naira inflated from 306 NGN to 380 NGN for one USD, a considerable devaluation that has gotten Nigerian business owners worrying about the repercussions and impacts on their companies. The local currency’s devaluation means that if one had 1,000 NGN in their savings, for example, the monetary sum would have shrunk to 750 USD with the inflation of Naira – this translates to a staggering 25% decrease for Nigerians.

Speaking to local Nigerian traders and business owners, peer-to-peer Bitcoin market platform Paxful discussed probable solutions and brainstormed how Nigerians could combat the devaluation of Naira during the ongoing pandemic.

Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin hedging

IT consultant Ebuka provided a different perspective to the devaluation of NGN, saying that he had managed to profit a little from the Nigerian currency drop by exchanging his USD funds into Naira.

Trading with foreign currencies like Ebuka and converting USD to NGN is not always an alternative for Nigerian locals, however, as many only earn income in Naira and do not have funds in foreign currencies. With the devaluation of NGN, it has become increasingly difficult for Nigerians to exchange Naira for other currencies due to the inflation in the currency’s price. Cryptocurrency trading is therefore a great hedge solution for Nigerians in light of the financial crisis brought upon by COVID-19.

Cross-border trading must be done in a tactful manner, however, and “the focus must be to make small profits first, and not expect to get rich fast overnight,” revealed full-time trader Happy in a discussion with Paxful. She added:

“If you buy BTC at a high rate, be mindful when you hold for too long because any rise in the price of Naira may lead to a fall in BTC price. It’s challenging to monitor the prices of both BTC and Naira, but you’ve got to stay alert.”

Despite the devaluation of the foreign currency affecting international trading, another plausible alternative for Nigerians proposed by Ebuka may be income earned through arbitrage. Arbitrage is a practice used by investors where securities and assets are purchased and sold in order to profit from a difference in the asset’s price across various markets.

In order to help Nigerians and the crypto community worldwide achieve financial freedom, Paxful has also come up with an Affiliate Program, which enables an investor to earn Bitcoin (BTC) and 50% of the escrow fee every time they invite “an affiliate” friend to buy Bitcoin on the trading platform.

Nigeria's Foreign Investment and Crypto Adoption Dilemma

Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, has been facing a severe shortage of dollars, leading to a decline in foreign direct investment (FDI). The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that FDI dropped by 33% in 2021, decreasing from $698 million in the previous year to $468 million. The situation is worrying as FDI has decreased by 90% since its peak in 2008, reaching a new low in 2021. The scarcity of foreign investment in the country has led to a significant setback for the growth of the economy.

Despite the decline in FDI, the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Nigeria has grown exponentially. Many Nigerians prefer to store their money in digital currencies rather than the national currency, the naira, due to its constant devaluation. In fact, Nigeria ranked eighth in the world in terms of crypto adoption and usage rate in Chainalysis’ 2020 Cryptocurrency Geography Report. This exponential growth in crypto adoption rate in Nigeria was expected to encourage more foreign investment in the country. However, the shortage of dollars has discouraged foreign crypto companies from investing in Nigeria.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banned cryptocurrency transactions in February 2021, directing all commercial banks to close accounts belonging to crypto exchanges and other businesses that deal with cryptocurrencies. The ban has further discouraged foreign investors from entering the market.

Despite the challenges, Olumide Adesina, a certified investment trader, tweeted that no state in Nigeria has taken the initiative to attract foreign investors in the fintech, entertainment, and crypto industries, despite the fact that Nigerians “love” these sectors. In another tweet, Adesina highlighted that building a real tech and crypto community like Silicon Valley in Lagos state would create thousands of direct jobs.

In response, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced proposals for crypto adoption in the state, according to local media reports. The initiatives proposed by Sanwo-Olu include establishing a dedicated sandbox regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, creating a crypto-focused innovation hub, and providing incentives for businesses that accept crypto payments. These initiatives are expected to encourage foreign investors to enter the Nigerian market and to boost the growth of the economy.

In conclusion, Nigeria’s dilemma is that while the adoption of cryptocurrencies has grown exponentially, the country is facing a severe shortage of foreign direct investment. The shortage of dollars has discouraged foreign investors, including crypto companies, from investing in the country. Therefore, it is essential for the government to take the necessary measures to attract foreign investors, particularly in the fintech, entertainment, and crypto industries. By doing so, Nigeria will not only stimulate its economy but will also establish itself as a hub for innovation and technology in Africa.

Binance Ends Services for Nigerian Naira

Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has made a decisive move to cease all services related to the Nigerian Naira (NGN) on its platform. This announcement comes as a response to the changing regulatory environment and Binance’s commitment to compliance and transparency in its operations.

Timeline for Service Discontinuation

The discontinuation of NGN services will follow a specific timeline, as outlined by Binance. The immediate call to action for users is to withdraw their NGN balances, trade their NGN assets, or convert their NGN into cryptocurrency before the services are fully phased out. Notably, from March 8, 2024, any remaining NGN balances will be converted into the stablecoin USDT, with Binance setting a fixed conversion rate based on the recent average closing prices of the USDT/NGN trading pair.

Final Dates for NGN Transactions

Binance has set clear deadlines for its users:

NGN deposits will cease from March 5, 2024, at 14:00 UTC.

Withdrawals will not be supported after March 8, 2024, at 06:00 UTC.

Conversion of NGN balances to USDT will begin on March 8, 2024, at 08:00 UTC, with the specified exchange rate of 1 USDT = 1,515.13 NGN.

Impact on Trading Pairs and Other Services

In line with this, Binance will delist all existing NGN spot trading pairs and remove NGN from Binance Convert. The platform’s P2P service has already delisted NGN trading pairs, and Binance Pay will also remove NGN from its supported payment options. Users participating in Binance Auto-Invest plans with NGN will need to adjust their strategies accordingly.

Pressure from Nigerian government

Binance has been facing increased scrutiny from the Nigerian government due to allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering, and exchange rate manipulation.

The Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes has summoned Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to appear before the committee by March 4, 2024. The committee’s Chair, Ginger Onwusibe, issued the ultimatum to address suspicions of the exchange’s involvement in illicit financial activities. The committee has expressed its commitment to combating financial crimes and protecting Nigerian citizens from potential risks posed by foreign companies operating in the country.

On March 1, 2024, Blockchain.News reported that the Nigerian government was seeking $10 billion in damages from Binance, alleging that the exchange had manipulated exchange rates, contributing to the Naira’s 70% devaluation. The platform has also been accused of facilitating money laundering and terrorism financing. The Central Bank of Nigeria has reportedly detained two foreign executives and disclosed $26 billion in cryptocurrency trades.

However, both the Nigerian government and Binance have since denied these allegations. In a statement, Binance clarified that it has not received any official communication from the Nigerian authorities regarding the alleged summons or the $10 billion damages claim. The exchange maintained that it operates in compliance with local laws and regulations and has a strong commitment to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures.

Binance’s Commitment to the Crypto Ecosystem

Despite these changes, Binance has expressed gratitude to its users for their continued support and assures that it remains dedicated to building a sustainable crypto ecosystem. The focus on transparency and growth within the regulatory frameworks is evident in Binance’s approach to the discontinuation process.

Advisory and Risk Warning

Binance advises users to manage their assets accordingly and reminds them of the inherent volatility and risk associated with digital asset investments. The exchange encourages informed decision-making and, where necessary, consultation with financial advisors.

Conclusion

The halting of NGN services by Binance is a significant development for Nigerian users and reflects the broader challenges that crypto exchanges face in navigating global regulatory waters. As Binance and other platforms adapt to these changes, the crypto community will likely see an increased emphasis on compliance and risk management across the industry.