Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, has declared its intention to end its operations in Nigeria because of regulatory hurdles involving the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regarding foreign exchange rules.

Users are given until March 8, 2024, to withdraw their funds, following the suspension of naira deposits beginning on March 5, 2024.

In a statement released by the exchange platform, Binance stated: “Binance will discontinue all Nigerian Naira (NGN) services as per the timeline below. Users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets, or convert NGN into crypto prior to the discontinuation of these NGN services.”

The company also mentioned that starting at 9 am on March 8, 2024, any remaining NGN balances in users’ accounts would be automatically changed to USDT at a conversion rate of 1 USDT per N1,515.13.

“Additionally, all spot trading pairs against the naira will be delisted on March 7 at 3:00 a.m. UTC, with open spot orders for these pairs being automatically closed. Furthermore, Binance Convert, Binance P2P, the exchange’s Auto Invest feature, and Binance Pay will cease support for the naira at various dates and times.”

Binance highlighted that the conversion rate was determined using the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot over the past week. The conversion procedure could extend up to 24 hours or more, with USDT tokens being deposited into users’ Spot wallets afterward.

“Please note that the conversion rate is calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days.  The conversion may take approximately up to 24 hours or longer. USDT tokens will be credited to users’ Spot wallets thereafter, and users can confirm receipt of the tokens via the Convert History page.

 “If users hold less than 0.00000001 USDT worth of NGN in their Spot and Funding wallets, they will each receive 0.00000001 USDT in their Spot wallets after the conversion. Users should ensure they have not selected “Hide Small Balances” in all of their wallets to view their assets after trading ceases.

“Binance Auto-Invest will delist NGN after 2024-03-06 03:00 (UTC). Users may choose to remove the plan(s) beforehand. Otherwise, the next recurring cycle of the aforementioned token(s) will fail,” it added.