Nigerians Turn to VPNs as Government Blocks Binance

Nigerians are now resorting to virtual private networks (VPNs) to access Binance and other crypto exchange platforms.

This follows the government’s recent decision to enforce restrictions over Binance’s alleged role in manipulating the country’s struggling currency, the Naira.

While Nigeria’s government is yet to officially comment on the blockade, Binance, the world’s top crypto trading platform, confirmed to local media that Nigerians were unable to access its website.

Binance faces accusations of manipulating the Naira

Through a post on X, Bayo Onanuga, Nigeria’s advisor to President Bola Tinubu, accused Binance of “hijacking the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) role” by deliberately setting the exchange rate for Nigeria.

“Binance…should not be allowed to dictate the value of the Naira, not on its crypto exchange platform”, he added.

In response, Binance denied the claims, suggesting it lacks the power to regulate international forex rates. Instead, it pointed a finger at complex factors beyond their control that were affecting the Naira.

The crypto giant further mentioned it’s dedicated “to providing market-driven, fraud-free, and manipulation-free products for users.”

To do this, Binance has resorted to using real-time monitoring, including halting transactions when they exceed a certain limit. Moreover, it enforces permanent bans on suspicious users from using its peer-to-peer (P2P) service. 

But this isn’t the first time it’s happening. Back in 2021, CBN clamped down on crypto exchange platforms before reversing this decision at the beginning of 2024.

Nigerians turn to VPNs

Nigerian crypto investors are resorting to VPNs as a way of evading the government ban. 

Some, including Mikael Bernard, a popular local forex trader, are even offering advice on how to use VPN services.

“If you’re using a VPN, don’t use US servers. You’d get banned. Use other countries,” claimed Bernard.

Trade on Binance’s USDT/NGN pair remains fairly significant, with nearly 2.6 billion Naira exchanged in the last 24 hours, equivalent to $1.6 million.

But this represents roughly a 50% drop compared to last week, suggesting a potential impact from the Nigerian government’s actions.

Following this crackdown, we’ve conducted tests and found NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and CyberGhost to be the best VPNs for Nigeria.