Cryptocurrency exchange giant Binance has announced the termination of its naira services, amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny and a faceoff with the Nigerian government.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Binance outlined the timeline for the closure of its naira services and advised users to take necessary actions regarding their NGN assets.

“Users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets, or convert NGN into crypto prior to the discontinuation of these NGN services,” Binance said in a statement.

“From 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), any remaining NGN balances in users’ Binance accounts will be automatically converted to USDT based on the conversion rate below.

“Binance will not support deposits of NGN after 2024-03-05 14:00 (UTC). Withdrawals of NGN will not be supported after 2024-03-08 06:00 (UTC).

“After 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), Binance will convert any remaining NGN balances in users’ Spot and Funding wallets into USDT on behalf of users at a ratio of 1 USDT = 1,515.13 NGN.

“Please note that the conversion rate is calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days.

“The conversion may take approximately up to 24 hours or longer. USDT tokens will be credited to users’ Spot wallets thereafter, and users can confirm receipt of the tokens via the Convert History page.

“If users hold less than 0.00000001 USDT worth of NGN in their Spot and Funding wallets, they will each receive 0.00000001 USDT in their Spot wallets after the conversion.”

The decision to end naira services comes amidst a standoff between Binance and the Nigerian government.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Yemi Cardoso recently highlighted concerns about illicit inflows of approximately $26 billion through Binance in the past year from “unknown sources.”

The government accuses the platform of engaging in foreign exchange rate manipulation, currency speculation, and rate fixing.