The downward movement of the value of the Nigerian currency against its United States counterpart in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) continued on Monday, July 21.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Naira slightly crashed against the greenback yesterday by 32 Kobo or 0.02 per cent to N1,533.64/$1 from, the N1,533.32/$1 it ended last Friday.
In the same pattern, the domestic currency depreciated further against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N6.86 to trade at N2,066.94/£1 compared with the previous day’s N2,060.08/£1 and lost N4.99 against the Euro to finish at N1,790.01/€1 versus the N1,785.02/€1 it was exchanged last Friday.
At the black market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged on the first trading session of this week at N1,535/$1, data from traders on the streets of Lagos, the country’s commercial capital, revealed.
The continued depreciation of the local currency in the spot market reflects growing concerns over the sustainability of the central bank’s currency defense strategy, weak oil revenues, limited foreign portfolio investment inflows, and uncertainties surrounding external financing.
However, the Naira may find support from positive developments such as increased crude oil production and a rise in foreign portfolio investments, coupled with a slowdown in import-related outflows.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it witnessed profit-taking in the last 24-hours ahead of the GENIUS Act signing at the White House by President Donald Trump.
The bill, which was passed by the US House last Thursday, sets rules for stablecoins, which are, by definition, digital dollars backed by real assets.
The US House of Representatives passed the GENIUS Act, along with two other crypto-related bills: the CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Act.
The CLARITY Act explains which government agencies will oversee crypto in the future, between the SEC and the CFTC. The Anti-CBDC Act is meant to stop the creation of a government-controlled digital dollar. These three bills give the crypto world more certainty, which investors have been waiting for.
Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 2.7 per cent to $0.2630, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.6 per cent to $3,690.70, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 1.5 per cent to sell at $116.35, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 0.8 per cent to $117,241.01, Binance Coin (BNB) also depreciated by 0.8 per cent to $753.40, and Ripple (XRP) fell by 0.5 per cent to $3.47.
However, Solana (SOL) jumped by 7.3 per cent to $198.80, and Cardano (ADA) rose by 0.7 per cent to $0.8737, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.