Hours ago, the largest digital currency exchange in the world took a decision to close the accounts of 38% of its customers in one of the countries due to security concerns.
Binance Holdings Ltd, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said it has restricted the personal accounts of some Nigerian users to comply with anti-money laundering regulations and to ensure the security of the traders’ platform.
Protection mechanisms such as know-your-customer, anti-money laundering measures, cooperation with law enforcement, and account restrictions are in place to ensure our community remains protected,” crypto exchange Binance said in a statement on its website.
“About 281 Nigerian accounts have been affected by these personal account restrictions, with approximately 38% of these cases restricted at the request of international law enforcement authorities,” Binance added.
In detail, many Nigerians trading on the Binance platform recently complained about the inability to initiate or complete transactions.
Users from the West African country have faced challenges with cryptocurrency trading since last year the Central Bank of Nigeria told lenders not to deal with cryptocurrency exchanges and ordered cryptocurrency traders to close accounts.
Despite this, Nigerians continue to use virtual currencies to hedge against inflation and the slippage of the Nigerian naira, as well as to transfer funds.
Individuals in the country have the world’s highest per capita share of these assets, according to a survey by Statista.
Binance has resolved 79 cases of account restrictions and plans to deploy more customer service staff and risk agents to speed up the resolution process, it said.
“All non-law enforcement cases will be resolved within two weeks,” Binance said.
Binance has faced many problems in the USA, UK, Ontario and Hong Kong.
Many expect that Bitcoin will reach $ 100,000 and perhaps $ 500 thousand, and there are those who believe that Ethereum will soon reach $ 50 thousand.
However, new forecasts issued by one of the largest US and global investment funds triggered many surprises regarding the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Cathy Wood was and still is one of the most prominent fund managers who placed bets on cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, and then Ethereum.
In previous forecasts for the woman who manages the Ark Investment funds, which Wall Street calls the money tree, she said that Bitcoin will be worth 500,000 dollars within 5 years.
Kathy Wood has also bet on the massive expansion of Ethereum and that it will be the future of cryptocurrencies, but it may take some time before Bitcoin overthrows it.
A new report from Ark Invest from Cathy Woods predicts that (ETH/USD) will meet or exceed the $20 trillion market capitalization within the next 10 years, which equates to a price between $170,000 and $180,000 per ETH.
The report also predicted big things for Bitcoin (BTC), saying that it “is likely to expand as nation states adopt [that] as legal tender… the price of one Bitcoin could exceed $1 million by 2030.”
Ark Invest is a US-based technology-focused asset management company with $12.43 billion in assets under management.
