REGULATION | Binance Suspends Trading in Ethiopian Birr Following Regulatory Pressure

Binance has announced it is disabling trading in Ethiopian Birr starting on May 15 2026.

Accoding to the announcement, Binance said the suspension comes following regulatory pressure.

The suspension comes just 2 months after the the Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security Service accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front of facilitating human trafficking networks and other activities such as gold smuggling, narcotics trade and fuel contraband across parts of the country with significant funds channelled into digital wallet platforms and crypto exchanges, including Binance.

The suspension also comes barely 2 months after the National Bank of Ethiopia said Birr-paired P2P transactions are prohibited and illegal in the country.

In a public notice, the National Bank of Ethiopia (which is the Central Bank of Ethiopia), said:

“Under the current regulatory framework, the use of Bill-paired P2P arrangements on trading platforms, exchanges, or similar services and products is not permitted unless explicitly authorized by the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Any form of Birr denominated P2P trading or exchange involving cryptocurrencies is prohibited.”

The bank listed some of the risks associated with P2P trading including:

• Significant volatility of virtual assets
• Exposure to foreign exchange price manipulation
• Fraud
• Scams
• Operational risks, and
• The absence of key safeguards such as Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism protections commonly found in regulated financial systems.

The notice went further and warned:

“Recent international experiences have also shown that certain P2P platforms and crypto asset exchanges have faced financial and technical challenges, in some cases restricting users’ access to their funds.

Such developments highlight the need for the public to carefully assess whether these assets are consistent with their financial objecties and risk tolerance.”

Binance runs the largest crypto P2P platform across Africa and has recently faced legal action over AML and CFT deficiencies.

In April 2026, multiple Binance accounts were frozen at the request of law enforcement in Kenya for undisclosed reasons.

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