Dollar speculation: FG to ban naira from crypto trading platforms

The Federal Government, through the Securities and Exchange Commission, is set to delist the naira from all peer-to-peer crypto platforms as the government steps up efforts to tackle exchange rate manipulators and dollar racketeers.

The development came against the backdrop of the recent moves by the Federal Government to regulate Nigeria’s crypto market estimated at $57bn.

The newly-appointed Director-General of the Commission, Emomotimi Agama, disclosed the government’s latest plan during a meeting with members of the Nigerian blockchain industry on Monday.

The meeting was organised by the Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria.

Agama confirmed that the government was currently drafting a new set of regulations to govern the crypto sector.

Operators in the crypto space have allegedly used the P2P platforms to manipulate the naira and the exchange rate.

 “That is one of the things that must be done to save this space; the delisting of the naira from the P2P platforms to avoid the level of manipulation that is currently happening. I want your cooperation in dealing with this as we roll out regulations in the coming days,” the SEC DG told the members of the local crypto community.

Agama’s announcement came barely a week after the Central Bank of Nigeria instructed payment service banks to caution their customers against engaging in crypto transactions.

The PUNCH understands that some local exchanges in the country, such as OKX, Bitbarter and some platforms under the membership of Stakeholders in the Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria had already stopped naira services in solidarity with the government.

In March, SiBAN sought collaboration with the Federal Government for proper regulation after developing the Virtual Assets Service Providers Code of Conduct in 2022.

However, the SEC DG urged members of the crypto community in Nigeria to “name and shame” the players involved in the manipulation of the naira.

He maintained that some bad players in the industry were manipulating the national currency, an act that the government was determined to deal with.

Agama said, “We ask with all sense of sincerity that those involved in sharp practices cease. We encourage you to reach out to us by naming and shaming those involved.

“This nation has a future, and this future is dependent on this community. For us at the SEC, our interest is to provide an enabling environment for fintech to thrive, and by so doing; we expect the fintech community to reciprocate by doing the right thing.

Ukakwe said the meeting “is for us to try and bring the industry to be compliant and remove bad actors who abuse technology, especially the concern raised by the government. This has to do with those who use the technology to manipulate the naira.

“We also hope that innovation is encouraged to enable the industry to gain more foreign inflow that will aid the current administration’s drive for foreign investment into the nation, as seen in other countries such as China and the UAE, and not to stifle the industry.”

Fintechs.

Last week, the CBN stopped major fintech firms from onboarding new customers in an ongoing audit of their Know-Your-Customer process.

The ‘Know Your Customer’ compliance level of fintechs has also been a source of worry for regulators. This involves verifying a customer’s identity and understanding their financial activity to prevent financial crimes, such as money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud.

According to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System’s fraud watch report, fraud losses increased by 496.96 per cent over the past five years, and financial institution customers lost N59.33bn between 2019 and 2023.

Following the regulatory action, major fintech firms, including Opay and PalmPay, sent emails to their customers on Friday, warning them against trading in cryptocurrency or any virtual currency on their apps. They also threatened to block any accounts found engaging in such activities.

Already, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has obtained a court order to freeze at least 1,146 bank accounts owned by various individuals and companies allegedly involved in illegal foreign exchange transactions.

The 85-page court order (document), which listed the bank account details of the suspects, was obtained by The PUNCH on Monday.

Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling on the ex-parte motion, moved by counsel for the anti-graft agency, Ekele Iheanacho, also granted the commission’s application to conclude the investigation within 90 days.

Part of the court document read, “That the applicant’s (EFCC) application is hereby granted as prayed.

“That an order of this honourable court is hereby made freezing the bank accounts stated in the schedule below, which accounts are owned by various individuals who are currently being investigated in a case involving the offences of unauthorised dealing in foreign exchange, money laundering, and terrorism financing, to the extent that the investigation will be for a period of 90 (ninety) days.”

The President of the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, Uju Ogubunka, backed the CBN’s move to suspend new account openings on the affected platforms.

He told The PUNCH that the strict regulations that govern deposit money banks must apply to fintechs and microfinance banks to ensure the integrity of the financial institutions.

While confirming that the government has taken strict action against the website, Onanuga said, “If we don’t clamp down on Binance, Binance will destroy the economy of this country. They just fix the rate.”

“We have saboteurs. Look at what Binance is doing to our economy. That is why the government moved against Binance. Some people sit down using cyberspace to dictate even our exchange rate, hijacking the role of the CBN.

“They just sit down and fix anything they like. It’s sabotage, and we are trying to prevent that from happening henceforth.”