Print Page - Cz taking advantage of the Nigerian government ban on bitcoin wrongly.

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Guess by now it's no news that the nigerian government has decided to push the country's development years back by banning bitcoin related activities. This is a country that has showed great potential and have grown over the years in becoming a stronghold when cryptocurrency is been mentioned. This is also the same government that previously showed some positive signs towards legalizing the currency months back as highlighted here; Breaking NEWS: SEC, Bitcoin now legal (a security) in Nigeria. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5275844.0) The government of the day is just confused and i'm not that concerned about the banning anymore but the recent tweets from the founder of Binance has caught my attention. If you read his tweet and understand them, what he's trying to say is our funds are safe on binance which we all know that's not the case as all centralized platforms are liable to hack.

My problem with this are the noobs coming into the industry and others that must have panic due to the threat by the government of our accounts getting blocked (that's those accounts linked with cryptocurrency related activities) will understand his tweets as Binance exchange been the idea platform for storing of our coins or fiats which we all know that's false. Him imputing a personal wallet, cold or hardware wallet after implying that we can exchange NGN to crypto would had gone a long way in spreading the awareness of taking control of our finances but no instead he takes advantage of the situation playing out in the country.

Behaviors like this by the top figures in the industry clearly points out the industry is slowly heading towards the same mode of operation practice by the bankers and government, always wanting to be in control of our finances. Binance as an exchange platform is quite decent but let it been known that your funds on the platform aren't secure as they claim. If you have your NGN, covert them to bitcoin and withdraw to your personal wallet.

Zhao seems to be out of touch with his user base, everyone with an inkling of experience in bitcoin knows about not putting your coins in exchanges. I have to commend the bravado/audacity of implying that Binance is safe against attacks that are devastating especially for users that treat trades in the exchange as a full-time job, not your keys not your coins or some sort right? I get the sentiment that bitcoin is slowly becoming a medium that replicates what it was trying to defeat in the first place, but what can we do, those big bankers and money babies have the cash to buy a lot of bitcoin, and a global flock of sheep/people that are following what the media says blindly doesn't want to learn about bitcoin because it is bad because they watched it on a Youtube video that was posted 10 years ago, the only way is to adapt, over time priorities change and I don't think that bitcoin isn't resistant to that change, for better or for worse.

I understand your concern Brainboss and I get it that top figures in the industry should
outwardly show more of a degree of leadership by stating that buyers of Crypto should
take control of them rather than entrusting an exchange with them indefinitely.

After all exchanges are exactly as they are called, to exchange one for the other.

CZ is saying in his tweet to convert NGN to Crypto via Binance and to hold it but
it is slightly misleading by not saying to Hold either on Binance or PRIVATELY.

all he had to add was "on Binance or in a private wallet"

He does make a good point though that P2P transactions will increase.

I understand your frustration but I have two things to say:

1. CZ is just sending a sort of a warning in the face of the impending ban on crypto by the Nigerian government. There are indeed two options left for the people of Nigeria who are using Binance. It is either they will withdraw their NGN because fiat support will also be gone, or they would convert those NGN into crypto and continue using Binance.

2. CZ is Binance and Binance is CZ, so don't expect CZ to encourage people to get their cryptocurrencies out of exchanges and keep them in personal wallets. That's his business.

Quote from: CryptopreneurBrainboss on February 06, 2021, 11:52:25 AM

Behaviors like this by the top figures in the industry clearly points out the industry is slowly heading towards the same mode of operation practice by the bankers and government, always wanting to be in control of our finances. Binance as an exchange platform is quite decent but let it been known that your funds on the platform aren't secure as they claim. If you have your NGN, covert them to bitcoin and withdraw to your personal wallet.

With CZ tweet, this will also trigger thieves and test how strong Binance is in dealing with attacks. I think this has been a signal for CZ to be careful and try to fix the fragile system. We all know that Binance has been hacked before.
so the worries would escalate after CZ tweet was posted on Twitter.

Damn ... didn't expect that. Nigeria was famous for being open to crypto. The Nigerian crypto community was huge.
This government will not win the next election for sure :)

Back to CZ. I saw that tweet before you put it here and to be honest I didn't read his intention that way. I agree with you in most cases but... for newbie ... it might in fact be safer to keep founds on binance. Its not mt gox era. Binance generated 800 mln $ in profit in just Q4 2020. They are not going anywhere. Kucoin was hacked (biggest hack in crypto in terms of $). They collaborated with projects, blocked everything they could, they were insured. Not even a single user was affected.

Average newbie that is here thanks to BTC pump will "forget to write down seed" or do other dump things and lose coins.

Quote from: zanezane on February 06, 2021, 01:27:45 PM

Zhao seems to be out of touch with his user base, everyone with an inkling of experience in bitcoin knows about not putting your coins in exchanges.

Quote from: aoluain on February 06, 2021, 01:51:44 PM

I get it that top figures in the industry should
outwardly show more of a degree of leadership by stating that buyers of Crypto should
take control of them rather than entrusting an exchange with them indefinitely.

There's not much to be expected from CZ as he's the CEO of binance and would want to push users to his platform even though it is not safe practice to store your funds on a custodian exchange.
The Nigerian government are being retrogressive by their new declaration and this is most probably an attempt to further control the citizens by controlling the flow of money.

Quote from: Tytanowy Janusz on February 06, 2021, 03:02:48 PM

it might in fact be safer to keep founds on binance. Its not mt gox era.

It all depends on your level of security, keeping your funds on an exchange means you are not in control and there are other risks besides hacks;
• Your assets can be easily frozen,
• The government can easily regulate your holdings through such exchanges, as they are regulated,
• There's privacy risk as your identity is necessary to set up certain accounts.

Quote from: Tytanowy Janusz on February 06, 2021, 03:02:48 PM

Average newbie that is here thanks to BTC pump will "forget to write down seed" or do other dump things and lose coins.

Anyone should do their research before buying Bitcoin or any asset. Wallets even put a warning to write down the seed phrase and store it in a secure place.

Quote from: Upgrade00 on February 06, 2021, 03:14:25 PM

Quote from: Tytanowy Janusz on February 06, 2021, 03:02:48 PM

it might in fact be safer to keep founds on binance. Its not mt gox era.

You take my sentence out of context to write few obvious statements. I said that ... "for newbie ... it might in fact be safer to keep founds on binance." Because we are talking about newbies here that could be manipulated by this tweet.

Quote from: Upgrade00 on February 06, 2021, 03:14:25 PM

Quote from: Tytanowy Janusz on February 06, 2021, 03:02:48 PM

Average newbie that is here thanks to BTC pump will "forget to write down seed" or do other dump things and lose coins.

Anyone should do their research before buying Bitcoin or any asset. Wallets even put a warning to write down the seed phrase and store it in a secure place.

When someone did his research good he will not be manipulated by this tweet, if someone didn't ... well his founds will be safer there until he will become interested in the topic and read how to properly take care of his money.

This post of yours OP deserves my merit but I lack the essentials ATM. You're spot on. However, I think those who traded on Binance directly to their Nigerian bank accounts can just turn into other crypto assets and begin a p2p and use a different bank account for receiving local payment among themselves. It's not advisable to withdraw funds now except one had a plan for its use earlier. Otherwise, such withdrawn fund will be squandered quickly. This isn't the time for panic sells. Bitcoin is decentralized and there's no stopping it. If advanced China could not stop it, is it a government from a third world struggling country that can?

Feeling sad Nigeria decide to ban crypto. But not for holders, feeling sad for the government. Citizens will never stop using Bitcoin, but the government will get nothing since no one can deal with banks. Texas funds would be used to develop the country's economy and peoples could earn Bitcoin in various ways which were positive for whole economies. Now peoples will use it legally and skip taxes.

I think CZ indicates something positive for Nigerian traders. If government ban crypto then by force all the exchange will disable bank withdrawal and deposits for Nigerian citizen. But peoples could convert Nigerian fiat to crypto and continue trading. I am assuming CZ just busting his peer to peer exchange when Nigerians still would buy sell Bitcoin ;D

Exchange is not safe, But Changpeng Zhao's tweet makes a lot of sense from another perspective, what should we do in such a situation? The Nigerian government has announced to ban cryptocurrencies. So what to do now for those who had NGN in holding! They must be at the door of the exchange to liquid their coin. I believe in "not your keys, not your coin". that's why Exchange is good for doing short trading, No pro-Bitcoin user will recommend anyone to use exchange for holding their coin long term.

Thanks for this thread, dear admin. Whenever I hear any news related to Nigeria. I am very interested in what is happening in your country and I feel in solidarity with the problems that you suffer. In addition to knowing that Nigerians have played an important role in adopting bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as the solution to their economy.

Regarding CZ, the invitation is to convert NGN to crypto soon. But the problem for the Nigerian is that they will not be able to exchange NGN / crypto when the measure takes effect, that is why they must act soon. I have my doubts because the government can find a way to identify the accounts that trade with crypto. CZ says his P2P exchange is safe. "?"

It is honestly a sad decision that the Nigerian government has made. I wish that these new measures do not continue their course and that they are annulled.
https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1357749065878937602?s=19 (https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1357749065878937602?s=19)

Well, thank you for bringing up it here, so that even we are not in a part of that country ^[NIGERIA] we still updated on the latest news in your country that perhaps will be affected the bitcoin price. I feel you being frustrating to them but I think CZ was trying to have a safe play between the Nigerian government and follow their law. If the user will know how crypto will work, they can still able to use Binance exchange but without using Nigerian currency that connected to the bank account. Traders mostly did not hold their bitcoin on the exchange, even the government banning bitcoin, people can still use it if they wanted to.

I thought the P2P trading will help users when a government tries to ban without any logic and now CZ proved that he cannot be trusted and he will likely dance to the tune of these government even though he does not have any legal implications. CZ created an empire but if that is not used properly then it is time to move to other exchanges but the problem is that which exchanges provide P2P trading that has enough liquidity.

Quote from: Swordsoffreedom on February 06, 2021, 07:13:48 PM

The stupid dork Changpeng Zhao can be silent in a situation like this, why does he think that he needs to tweet everything and what is the implication if he sit silent, he is not under the authority of the Nigerian government and he does not need to comment on everything if he really cared about bitcoin and the users who are using his exchange.

Quote from: ene1980 on February 06, 2021, 08:49:13 PM

Quote from: Swordsoffreedom on February 06, 2021, 07:13:48 PM

The thing you are talking about is totally different, I just tried to reply this statement:

Quote from: CryptopreneurBrainboss on February 06, 2021, 11:52:25 AM

Binance as an exchange platform is quite decent but let it been known that your funds on the platform aren't secure as they claim. If you have your NGN, covert them to bitcoin and withdraw to your personal wallet.

As an exchange, Binance is not safe but we have to use exchange frequently to swap our coins, as it is custodial so it is not wise to use Binance as a wallet.

Now come to your point, why would you think CZ's tweet will impact the price of Bitcoin! No wise Nigerian investor will liquidate their Bitcoin just hearing the rumor of GOVT.
The best thing they can do just convert their NGN to BTC and hold that on their own wallet until the situation is getting back to normal.

Reading the tweet and what was quoted;
I don't think CZ emphasized anywhere that one has to hold their funds in Binance. I mean, they can convert NGN to crypto and hold it in an external noncustodial wallet.
Perhaps the purpose of the tweet was to alert Nigerian traders to convert their NGN as soon as possible as Binance may stop supporting it soon in a move to comply with the crypto ban by the Nigerian Government. Maybe the mistake he did was quote a tweet where someone was saying their money feels safe in the Binance wallet.

That being said, I think p2p exchanges will once again be away people from Nigeria will buy and sell Bitcoins. I am not sure whether there are other online money transfer services in Nigeria but Banks and other financial institutions will soon not be an option for receiving and sending money for crypto related trades.

Quote from: CryptopreneurBrainboss on February 06, 2021, 11:52:25 AM

If you read his tweet and understand them, what he's trying to say is our funds are safe on binance which we all know that's not the case as all centralized platforms are liable to hack.

I think CZ is trying to calm people and told them that even if their government is (for the time being) not supporting crypto, they could keep their bitcoins safely in binance. Imagine if he said that withdraw NGN and/or convert to crypto and withdraw it too, many people will interpret it as binance is also not supporting the Nigerians on their exchange.
Rest assured, people who are in crypto know already that their holding portfolio should be in their private wallets and they should only keep their trading portfolio on exchanges.

Quote from: virasog on February 07, 2021, 03:38:41 AM

Rest assured, people who are in crypto know already that their holding portfolio should be in their private wallets and they should only keep their trading portfolio on exchanges.

Thats prolly the only positive to the ban, there will be quite a lot of Nigerians who didn't understand the security risks of storing your crypto funds in an exchange wallet, but as the government has issued this ban, the awareness is rife in Nigeria that everyone should move their funds to wallets that they own the private keys. If not for anything, it has created the awareness on this security protocol in the minds of Nigerians.

Quote from: Bitcoin_Arena on February 06, 2021, 10:32:27 PM

That being said, I think p2p exchanges will once again be away people from Nigeria will buy and sell Bitcoins.

Yes, the government should know by now that it's almost impossible for them to completely censor/ban Bitcoin in their country, the currency (Bitcoin) isn't controlled and manipulated by them, so Bitcoin users in Nigeria do not even have to worry, as long as you don't use centralized exchanges and connect them to your bank, you should be fine.

Quote from: Bitcoin_Arena on February 06, 2021, 10:32:27 PM

Maybe the mistake he did was quote a tweet where someone was saying their money feels safe in the Binance wallet.

Exactly, I didn't read much meaning into his tweet until I saw the tweet he was replying to. There's no way our funds on binance be it crypto or fiats can be more secured than that in the banks. I hate the fiat system but I think the crypto industry still has a long way to go before we achieve perfection. Currently power is been given back to the elite which are the few (Stake holders of Binance). They get the first treatment with the difference featured the exchange offers.

I believe they get the first information of new listing before the average customer gets the memo of a listing coming because it surprise me how a coin will just do 500-1000% from now without much users benefiting from very beginning. Binance has been one of my favorite until them engaging themselves in chasing after volumes by listing hyped projects, overcrowding the exchange with worthless tokens.

There was a better way he would had passed that information without trying to decieve the masses with the gesture of his exchange been secure meanwhile it just got hacked few months back. He showed focus on offering the trading trading service not wallet service..

Quote from: Bitcoin_Arena on February 06, 2021, 10:32:27 PM

That being said, I think p2p exchanges will once again be away people from Nigeria will buy and sell Bitcoins. I am not sure whether there are other online money transfer services in Nigeria but Banks and other financial institutions will soon not be an option for receiving and sending money for crypto related trades.

Just a query that how will the bank know if the transaction is taking place as a result of sale/purchase of bitcoin ? Even at the binance P2P exchange, the purchaser of the bitcoins can send fiat currency to the receiver bank account without mentioning anything about bitcoin. The bank will never know the actual reason of the transaction. Isn't ?

Quote from: CryptopreneurBrainboss on February 06, 2021, 11:52:25 AM

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Behaviors like this by the top figures in the industry clearly points out the industry is slowly heading towards the same mode of operation practice by the bankers and government, always wanting to be in control of our finances.

Proof of keys is important, thanks for reminding people it seems obvious if you have been here long enough.

However, what may be obvious to us Trezors Ledger's cold storage, proof of keys or you don't own your coins are not always clear to others.
Good call-out on CZ he's aware however since he runs an exchange it's normalized.

Quote from: Upgrade00 on February 06, 2021, 03:14:25 PM

Quote from: zanezane on February 06, 2021, 01:27:45 PM

If he wants to push the users to use his platform as an alternative for cold wallets or your own wallets then shouldn't they be focusing their efforts on making it more secure? I think that it is not the only assurance that will make the users entrust their coins in their exchange but that is a big step in the right direction. Improve security or making an insurance to help ease the minds of the users to trust their exchange. It may look regressive but I think there is a lot more political in play here, AFAIK Nigeria is a big player in cryptocurrency market, there were talks that it was because of a protest but I can't be sure, how come the banks only made their move, maybe they saw something that might have presented as an opportunity to justify their actions.

What is the point in blaming Changpeng Zhao? Binance always try hard to be on the good books of the government authorities (I don't think that they have any other choice). And it is not just Binance. Look at the reaction from the other cryptocurrency exchanges, after SEC launched their lawsuit against the Ripple Foundation? Within a matter of few days, most of the exchanges delisted XRP from their platform. Most of them realize that they can't take a confrontational stance towards the government directives, and I have to agree with them.

Quote from: CryptopreneurBrainboss on February 07, 2021, 03:58:15 AM

I noticed that type of character from him in the past. He's sort of an opportunist in all corners. I hope it doesn't lead to his downfall.

Now concerning the ban. Does this mean Nigerian traders won't be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using other Electronic payment methods that are independent of the banned banks like let's say Skrill?

He is doing what many businessmen will do, which is retain their customers. Unfortunately many businessmen only care about their money.
Nigeria is a country that has traded billions of dollars in cryptocurrencies, especially in Bitcoin. If many Nigerians decide to pull out of Bitcoin because of its government statement concerning Bitcoin, Changpeng Zhao will be losing money.

Moreover, you don't expect him to sound like Binance is an unsafe place for traders, that alone will make lots of people even outside Nigeria panic.

I won't be blaming him though, anyone interested in Bitcoin should be knowledgeable about safeguarding their coins. This is why forums like this exist. To learn from users experience.

Satoshi Nakamoto never intended for Bitcoin to be taken over by centralized financial businesses, because he knew that they were profit driven and a central point of failure. He wanted us to be in control of our own wealth and thus having control over our own Private keys.

Now I know most people are lazy and they look for easier and more convenient methods to store their "tokens" ..but those options come with negative consequences when they make decisions over your "coins" ..because they control your Private key. ::)

Exchanges (centralized services) will always protect their own interest (business) over the interest of their customers. So if a specific country makes a decision to "ban" Bitcoin, they have to "block" those people from using their business or they will be closed down by the government that controls them. (So centralized services are easy targets for governments)

To be your own Bank, you have to be in control of your own Private keys and to do that, you should never use these centralized financial organizations. ;)

Everyone needs to understand that exchanges can't go against the authorities. They need to comply with the government regulations, no matter how much absurd they may sound. BTC-e, one of the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges tried that against the American authorities. And everyone know what happened after that. Their domain was seized and all the coins were confiscated. One of the owners (Alexander Vinnik is now facing life imprisonment in the United States). Perhaps Changpeng Zhao doesn't want to end up like Alexander Vinnik, and that is intelligent thinking from his part.

Quote from: bryant.coleman on February 08, 2021, 06:22:58 AM

The problem is not what CZ or other exchange owners think but how dumb the governments are around the globe. The Indian government tried to blanket ban the crypto from transacting with banks, P2P flourished and the Supreme Court lifted the ban. It took time but till then most of the traders and exchanges understood how to do P2P and never stopped trading.
Also, I agree with Bryant with respect to complying with the government regulators, No exchange or organization can go against them, It will be a really sad day for Nigerian traders to not able to convert their crypto easily.

https://www.coindesk.com/nigerian-central-bank-says-its-ban-on-crypto-accounts-is-nothing-new

I really don't think CZ sounds like "Hold your coins in Binance"! Not even a bit! It sounds more like an alarm to the Nigerian traders on what they should do next! I think we are being ultra-sensitive here! Crypto exchanges are super prone to hacking and we all have experienced such incidents. So anyone knows about cryptocurrency, would not keep their cryptos in any exchange if they just want to HODL it.

But CZ, rightly said - the p2p trading will flourish as the financial institutions will not allow crypto related activities and possibly freeze many accounts post the exit timeline if they see any crypto related transactions. So the cash transactions will increase. I really want to condemn Nigerian government as it shows their regressive mentality. I believe same is going to happen in India as well!

Quote from: CryptopreneurBrainboss on February 07, 2021, 03:58:15 AM

There was a better way he would had passed that information without trying to decieve the masses with the gesture of his exchange been secure meanwhile it just got hacked few months back. He showed focus on offering the trading trading service not wallet service..

Having our bitcoin and crypto on noncustodial wallets has been the best, we have the key and we have the coins, unlike using custodial exchanges which can lead to our account frozen or blocked, because the companies providing such service are the one in control while the exchanges can be hacked. Banks can be safer to keep money, but we should know that African banks like Nigerian banks are not safer, not because our money can be stolen but because of high rate of fiat devaluation in the country. Worth of $1000 in Naira in 10 years will likely devalued to $100, if such can happen, we are not just safe, naira is just a deflationary money.

That aside, from a friend of mine while in school and also from my sister last year, without leaking the pin and the long ATM card number, their bank account were hacked, my sister is very sensitive, I believe the fault is not from her side, but a country where sim swap can happen, also bank worker can become the attackers, which likely means that the hack was from the bank, banks are not that safe as we think, neither were custodial exchanges. We are safe until we have our private keys.

The best we can have is to have our private key with us, and control our funds, what Nigeria government are now try to make difficult for us, the main fault are from the Nigerian government/CBN. Binance did not freeze our funds and we can trader it to noncustodial wallets, but Nigerian banks are the ones making our lives miserable because our bank account linked to crypto exchanges will be blocked, no freedom but authoritarian set of leaders.

No exchange is safe and secure and the more people or investors starts having that idea stuck in them, the better for them as well, Binance is a good exchange no doubt but funds security should be done outside the exchange, in a wallet only you can control. Many exchanges which were hacked never expected it and I believe they must have told their users that their funds are safe just like Binance founder but when the hack took place what happened? Many even ended up dying as they couldn't withstand what was stolen. Also, in as much as the tweet might be a statement to give some sort of assurance but yet it still looks like, it was posted the wrong way. Therefore, just like you rightly stated, if you have your NGN in Binance, selling to any coin it is paired with be it Bitcoin, USDT etc and withdrawing to your personal wallet is the way to go.

Though CZ tried to word this tweet as innocently as possible, it still came out to be somewhat controlling, or passive-aggressive if you may knowing his stance on crypto vs fiat and being the head honcho of one of the largest exchange. But at the least, he openly gave some sensible options to the Nigerian people regarding their cryptocurrencies, and I think that is enough of a heads-up/announcement in itself. Binance and CZ would need to comply to the governments of the countries they are serving, else they will face legal consequences that may take resources out of their arsenal, which is kind of a huge setback for their operations considering that they are operating with grey areas and vague lines in terms of legality and whatnot.

Oh well, I do hope our Nigerian brothers were able to convert their fiat into crypto if they really wanted to, and withdrew immediately to their personal wallets if they really plan to hold.

Quote from: Bitcoin_Arena on February 07, 2021, 11:36:39 PM

Now concerning the ban. Does this mean Nigerian traders won't be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using other Electronic payment methods that are independent of the banned banks like let's say Skrill?

Im not following the ban neither do I have an idea exactly of what is been banned be it bitcoin or crypto trading as a whole. I don't want to know and from current development It seems binance are over acting, already they have delisted all trading pair with NGN and also disabled withdrawal and deposit service for NGN on the platform. Luno on the other hand just disabled deposit but withdrawal is still moving smoothly. I'm disappointed at the way binance are handling the issue.

Nigerians have been a very strong supporter of the platforms and has always resulted to them giving us the upper hand or using us as test samples example, Nigeria Naira becomes first Fiat currencies to be listed on Binance. (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5195745.msg52867773#msg52867773)

On other platforms we can trade using others digital currency like those you mentioned but it seems if this pressure continue them nigerian will be banned from using most centralized exchange like Binance because from their reaction to the news it seems they know something we don't and are taking precautions measure already.

I simply do not understand why governments are taking such steps like banning crypto in their countries. Recently Indian government is also drafting the bill where they want to ban private crypto.
The centralize exchanges act in this way because they do not want to keep themselves in any sort of trouble as they have enough users from other countries who will continue using the exchange.
I am sure in future Nigeria government will realize their mistake and will have to lift this ban and ultimately binance will enable NGN.

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Bitcoin => Bitcoin Discussion => Topic started by: CryptopreneurBrainboss on February 06, 2021, 11:52:25 AM