Denial of Service: Removal of fiat funds acceptance on Binance in Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has prohibited all commercial financial institutions from providing services to cryptocurrency exchanges and digital cryptocurrency organizations. The CBN's directive went into effect upon publication - that is, literally immediately. The Nigerian regulator has ordered banks to close such accounts. Violators face penalties and cancellation of local bank accounts:

"The bank wants to remind regulated institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or payments for cryptocurrency exchanges is prohibited," it is said in an official letter dated February 5. - All regulated institutions are instructed to identify individuals and entities transacting through or managing cryptocurrency exchanges and close their accounts immediately. Please note that violation of this instruction will result in serious regulatory sanctions.

The Central Bank of Nigeria refers to a 2017 letter stating that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not recognized as legal tender and/or do not have asset/cash status within the country. Local sources say that most cryptocurrency trading takes place on peer-to-peer exchanges and was not affected by the latest notification. A few months earlier, Nigerian authorities began closing bank accounts linked to the protests, after which participants began using bitcoin. According to one version, the decision could also be related to the withdrawal of capital from the national currency to bitcoin amid a sharp rise in its exchange rate.

Binance Casino, which had a bank account in Nigeria RUBIES BANK said (the account was opened in the company Binance Holdings Limited) that the temporary suspension of deposits in the Nigerian naira through the fiat channels of its partners:

Fellow Binancians,

We are aware of the recent circular shared by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) around cryptocurrency-related Nigerian naira (NGN) payment activities in Nigeria and we are monitoring the situation closely. Please note all your funds on Binance.com remain safe and crypto services on Binance.com will continue as normal. However, our NGN payment partners are suspending deposit services until further notice. From 7PM (GMT+1) on Feb 5th 2021, Binance will temporarily suspend NGN deposits through our fiat partner channels. Withdrawal services remain normal and will continue to be processed but might take slightly longer time than usual. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. We will continue to provide further updates as soon as they become available, and we are working closely with all relevant stakeholders. Binance remains committed to supporting the growth of the blockchain ecosystem in Africa.

Thank you for your patience and support. Binance Team

The withdrawal of funds in Binance casino is still available, but the pseudo-exchange warns that it may take longer than usual or stop altogether. Previously, we have already published an article Denial of Service: Adding QIWI and removing QIWI from Binance. We continue to send complaints to "intermediary partners" and regulators.

08.02.21

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