Binance blocks Nigerian users access to free token rewards and airdrops

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has restricted access to its free token airdrops in Nigeria. This is the latest twist in the ongoing faceoff between the exchange and the West African country. 

The details 

• Reports say that Nigerians who had been long-standing beneficiaries of these free airdrops took to social media to complain about the restrictions. 
• Binance issues these tokens as rewards for participating in simple tasks such as signing up for projects, staking test tokens, testing DeFi protocols or holding certain assets. 
• In addition, they get rewards for referring friends to use the platform or participate in the tasks. Users can earn as high as $50 from these rewards. 
• According to DL News, Nigerians who logged on to Binance’s platform to perform tasks and earn last week got notices that the giveaway platform was no longer available to them. 

Key quote 

• A Nigerian student that frequents the platform, Chike Nnadi, lamented: 

“It is a pity that for a crypto-loving country like Nigeria, our access to the industry is becoming severely limited as the days go by. Imagine being able to earn such an amount of money in a county where most people are living below the poverty line and now to have that opportunity taken away, it is frustrating.” 

Before now 

• Binance has been embroiled in a tussle with the Nigerian government since the early days of 2023. 
• A rapidly devaluing local currency—the naira—saw Nigerian officials begin a clampdown on peer-to-peer crypto exchanges, focusing mostly on Binance. 
• The Nigerian government instructed local internet service providers to block access to Binance shortly before the exchange disabled its P2P trading platform in the country. 

Behind the scenes

• While most Nigerian crypto users turned to over-the-counter P2P exchanges and vendors, others resorted to the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to gain back-door access to Binance’s platform. 
• These VPNs allow users to change their location temporarily and avoid circumventing website blocks by masking their internet protocol (IP) addresses.