Nigeria Blocks Access to Bitcoin Exchanges in Desperate Bid to Control The Price of Plummeting National Currency
"The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms regulator, late on Wednesday ordered telecoms companies to restrict consumer access to the websites of companies like Binance, Coinbase and Kraken, according to people familiar with the matter," reported Financial Times.
- "Authorities in Nigeria have blocked access to some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges as the government tries to crack down on currency speculation while the naira tumbles to record lows."
- "The controls mark a U-turn on cryptocurrencies in Nigeria, which President Bola Tinubu’s government had seen as part of its sweeping market-friendly reforms, designed to attract overseas investment to its struggling economy."
- "Bayo Onanuga, a special adviser to President Tinubu, accused Binance on social media website X of “blatantly” setting the exchange rate for Nigeria and hijacking the Central Bank of Nigeria’s role as the main currency rate setter."
“Crypto should be banned in our country or else this bleeding of our currency will continue unabated,” he wrote.
- "Cryptocurrency exchanges have played a big role in establishing unofficial market prices for the naira, with platforms like Binance often serving as benchmarks for local foreign currency exchange rates. The government's move to block access to these platforms is an effort to regain control over the currency valuation of the naira," writes Bitcoin Magazine.
