- Nigeria's EFCC has frozen the bank accounts of over 1,100 crypto traders.
- The anti-corruption unit said traders were manipulating the naira.
- An investigation into this matter is ongoing.
Cryptocurrency merchants in Nigeria, traders with large trading volumes on peer-to-peer platforms, are fearful of what will happen next after the country's legal currency, the naira, fell again on the foreign exchange market last week. Ta.
Those concerns were not unfounded.
This is because Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has frozen the bank accounts of 1,146 crypto traders, according to documents obtained by law enforcement authorities. DL News on monday.
The crypto traders are accused of foreign exchange extortion, currency manipulation, money laundering, and terrorist financing.
“We have learned that you are involved in virtual currency transactions,” the Nigerian bank informed one of its customers in an email. DL News.
The affected person confirmed that DL News He is a virtual currency merchant but wishes to remain anonymous.
“We hereby request that you provide us with a valid order from a court of competent jurisdiction to release your funds,” the bank's notice states.
However, the EFCC may prevent Customer's attempts to recover funds even if a court order permits Customer to recover funds.
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The order secured by the EFCC stated that the account should be frozen until the investigation is completed. You have 90 days to reach a conclusion.
Since the beginning of this year, the EFCC has been part of an inter-ministerial task force investigating alleged manipulation of the value of the naira by crypto traders.
The investigation began with Binance, which was named as the cause of the worst naira decline in history earlier this year. The commission subsequently indicted the virtual currency exchange and two of its executives on money laundering charges.
Now, the EFCC appears to be eyeing other crypto exchanges as it escalates its war with peer-to-peer traders.
The commission's chairman, Ola Olukyoede, said last week that investigators had discovered currency manipulation on other crypto exchanges that was “worse than Binance.”
Cryptocurrency traders in Nigeria are no strangers to having their bank accounts frozen.
Such actions previously occurred under the crypto ban regime, which prohibited commercial banks from providing services to exchanges and traders from February 2020 to December 2023.
In December, the Central Bank of Nigeria reversed the order and allowed commercial lenders to provide services to crypto exchanges and traders.
The central bank said last week that it has no plans to reimpose the cryptocurrency ban. A circular purportedly from the central bank directed banks to freeze the accounts of crypto traders. However, the circular was fake.
Osato Abang Nomayo is a DeFi correspondent based in Nigeria. He covers his DeFi and technology. To share tips or information about your story, contact us at: oSat@dlnews.com.
