The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued directives preventing several microfinance institutions, including Moniepoint, Opay, and Kuda, from initiating the process of opening new accounts and welcoming fresh clientele.

This decision stems from allegations suggesting that these institutions have been implicated in activities involving the channeling of cryptocurrency transactions and exerting undue influence on the valuation of the national currency, the naira.

Sources with intimate knowledge of the matter revealed to Peoples Gazette on Monday that the CBN has justified this ban on new account openings as a proactive measure aimed at combating instances of money laundering, which have contributed to the recent depreciation of the naira against the US dollar.

However, Moniepoint on Friday took to its platform to address its prospective customers indicating that they have currently placed a temporary hold on the process of accepting new registrations on our platform.

“Hello! We’ve temporarily paused new sign-ups on our platform. This means that you’ll be unable to open a new account at the moment. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

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As of the evening of Monday, the exchange rate for the Nigerian currency, the naira, stood at N1350 per US dollar, marking a regression from its previously stable trajectory.

This recent development contrasts sharply with the upward trend observed in the preceding weeks, during which the naira had strengthened to N950 against the dollar by early April.

The naira’s value experienced a significant decline in February, reaching a point where it nearly approached an exchange rate of N2000 to the dollar. In response to this alarming depreciation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) collaborated with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take decisive action against Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The executives of Binance, including Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, and British-Kenyan Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained on allegations of manipulating the value of the naira.

In an effort to address the situation, the Nigerian government demanded that Binance disclose the identities and transaction details of its top 100 users. This request was made with the intention of facilitating negotiations for the release of the detained executives.