1 year ago
A Nigerian slope has reportedly blocked slope accounts belonging to immoderate 500 integer plus traders. The affected accounts are said to person received a information of the much than $10 cardinal that was stolen from Access Bank by hackers betwixt May and June this year. A salient Nigerian crypto enthusiast and pedagogue has described the alleged freezing of crypto traders’ slope accounts arsenic “a disgrace to Nigeria’s banking infrastructure.”
Stolen Funds Used to Buy USDT
According to reports connected societal media, Nigeria’s Access Bank is said to beryllium blocking accounts belonging to immoderate 500 USDT traders. The slope is believed to person taken this measurement aft it obtained a tribunal bid which enabled it to enactment a lien connected each the crypto traders’ slope accounts.
The slope asserts that the affected traders’ accounts had received portion of the funds which were stolen by hackers. As 1 societal media idiosyncratic connected X (formerly Twitter) explained, Access Bank is thought to person mislaid implicit $10.4 cardinal oregon 8 cardinal naira betwixt May and June this year. The idiosyncratic besides suggested that the hackers had utilized portion of the funds to bargain tether from Binance USDT traders.
500 traders’ slope accounts reportedly blocked aft h@ckers utilized the N8billion they st%le from a slope to bargain USDT from them pic.twitter.com/8hxihynGF0
— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) October 22, 2023
Commenting connected the reported freezing of accounts, Rume Ophi, the enforcement caput of the Stakeholders successful Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN), described the alleged freezing of crypto traders’ slope accounts arsenic “a disgrace to Nigeria’s banking infrastructure.” Ophi, who is besides known arsenic the Cryptopreacher, insisted that the determination by Access Bank and others is intended to further undermine the Nigerian crypto industry.
Freezing Bank Accounts Is ‘Causing More Harm’
However, successful written answers sent to Bitcoin.com, Ophi besides offered his thoughts connected what Nigerian authorities should bash and what they indispensable debar doing.
“We request thorough investigations to apprehend the criminals, alternatively than resorting to the indiscriminate freezing of accounts belonging to guiltless individuals progressive successful cryptocurrency transactions. This attack isn’t solving the problem; it’s lone causing much harm,” the Cryptopreacher said.
As antecedently reported by Bitcoin.com News successful August 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has successful the past forced banks to artifact accounts of individuals accused of utilizing the banking strategy to facilitate crypto-related transactions.
Yet, contempt the crackdown that saw respective accounts belonging to crypto entities being closed successful 2021, galore integer plus traders seemingly proceed to trust connected the accepted banking system. This, successful turn, has raised questions astir banks’ relation successful enforcing the CBN’s February 2021 directive.
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