Naira Crashes to N1,495/$1 at Official Market, N1,610/$1 at Black Market

However, the Nigerian currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N38.92 to trade at N1,832.40/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,871.32/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N34.78 to sell for N1,532.03/€1, in contrast to the previous trading day’s rate of N1,566.81/€1.

A look at the black market showed that the Nigerian Naira lost N10 against the Dollar on the first trading session of the week to quote at N1,610/$1 versus the preceding session’s value of N1,600/$1.

The pressure on the local currency came as the access granted to Bureau de Change operators (BDCs) on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s s-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform was extended after it elapsed last month.

This extension was disclosed in a circular issued on Monday by the Trade and Exchange Department of the apex bank, allowing BDCs to continue purchasing forex from authorised dealers under existing conditions.

The circular, referenced TED/FEM/PUB/FPC/001/003 and signed by Dr W. J. Kanya, the Acting Director of the Trade and Exchange Department, referred to an earlier directive TED/FEM/PUB/FPC/001/030 issued on December 19, 2024.

The previous circular had granted temporary access to existing BDCs to source foreign exchange from authorised dealers, with a weekly cap of $25,000.

Initially set to expire on January 31, 2025, the directive has now been extended for another four months, until May 30, 2025.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was mixed as the President of the United States, Mr Donald Trump, signed an executive order on Monday charging the Treasury and Commerce Departments with creating a sovereign wealth fund.

While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has expressed at least cautious interest in crypto, Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick has been a loud champion for the sector.

Mr Trump had promised a far more friendly crypto policy stance than the previous administration and with the sovereign wealth fund to be created in the next 12 months, it could potentially be a vehicle through which the government might buy and hold the crypto.

Just over the weekend, the president ignited a speculative frenzy with the Friday evening launch of the Trump meme coin, which was shortly followed by a meme coin associated with his wife Melania.

Yesterday, the price of Solana (SOL) jumped by 6.2 per cent to $256.26, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 5.1 per cent to $101,780.47, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 5.0 per cent to $0.2836, and Ripple (XRP) rose by 4.3 per cent to $2.71.

On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 5.5 per cent to $2,747.58, Litecoin (LTC) fell by 2.1 per cent to $106.82, Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 1.4  per cent to $607.73, and Cardano (ADA) crumbled by 0.3 per cent to $0.7989, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.