I have been expecting the crackdown on crypto currency exchange since USDT came popular among Nigerians.

What is USDT?

USDT is the digital currency of US Dollar. It’s created by Hong Kong-based company iFinex Inc. in 2014.

Is USDT the same as Bitcoin?

Yes/No. Yes in the sense that both are cryptocurrency. No in the sense that Bitcoin is volatile and the price change regularly. In other case, USDT tether has the same value as US Dollar. If you have 1 USDT today, you will collect 1 US dollar if you decide to sell in future. The price will never change. 1 USDT = 1 US Dollar.

THE FALL OF NAIRA

After EFCC began crackdown on yahoo boys in Nigeria, they were doing both legal and illegal jobs. When they raid hotels in Lagos, both investors and yahoo boys will be arrested. It happen all around the country. When an investor is caught, they will be charge for unexplained wealth and money laundry. How do you expect people like 606 autos and other car dealers not to do transaction over 3 million at once?

After most of this investors have been jailed for money laundry and unexplained wealth, they decided to find a way around the scope which EFCC was using to jail them. They decided to hold their money in USDT (which is Dollar digital currency).

The government has their eye on BDC operators but who needs physical US Dollar when you can have digital USDT. That is how most investors and yahoo gangs eject their money from Naira to USDT. Since then USDT has been determining the price of “Naira to Dollar” in Nigeria.

No matter what the government do, Dollar rate is out of their control. The government need to buy people’s trust back, and let them know that they can hold their money in Naira without an ant like EFCC using it to blackmail and jail them. Maybe they might be patriotic enough to convert their USDT to Naira. Also, all buying, selling and using of USDT should be banned and criminalized.