Binance Suspends Ethiopian Birr P2P Trading After Central Bank Warning

What To Know:

• Binance suspended Ethiopian Birr (ETB) peer-to-peer trading on May 15, 2026, following the National Bank of Ethiopia’s (NBE) February 27 public notice declaring unauthorised Birr-paired P2P crypto transactions illegal.
• Binance gave users a 10-day wind-down period from May 5 to settle open ETB orders. After May 15, ETB was removed from the platform’s P2P fiat options entirely.
• OKX had already suspended ETB P2P in February 2026, and Bybit also withdrew. Binance was the last major global exchange offering direct Birr on/off-ramps to Ethiopian users.
• Ethiopia has approximately 1.8 million crypto users and ranks 12th globally in grassroots adoption (Chainalysis 2025 Index). The USDT-Birr P2P market was estimated at over $1 million daily before the crackdown.
• Demand for stablecoins in Ethiopia is driven by 23.9% inflation, a 30% birr devaluation (mid-2024), severe foreign exchange shortages, and limited banking access for freelancers and small businesses.
• The NBE is actively developing a comprehensive digital asset regulatory framework, and the government’s National Digital Payments Strategy (2026–2030) includes formal study of stablecoins and cryptocurrencies — but until that framework arrives, the current enforcement stance is restrictive.
• The exchange exodus doesn’t eliminate demand. Trading is expected to fragment into smaller, Telegram-based P2P groups and informal channels with higher fraud risk and less consumer protection.

Binance notified users in late April that it was winding down P2P trading in Ethiopian Birr (ETB). It offered users a settlement window to resolve any open transactions. This window closed on May 15, and ETB was removed from the platform’s P2P fiat options entirely.

Binance is not the first crypto exchange to make this move. OKX had already pulled out in February. In March, Bybit followed. 

This move precedes a public notice from the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), issued on February 27th, declaring that unauthorised birr-paired crypto P2P transactions were illegal.

This is important when one considers the size of the Ethiopian crypto market. According to Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Ethiopia ranks 12th globally for grassroots crypto adoption. As of May 15, 2026, not a single major global exchange will let you trade crypto against the Ethiopian birr.

This is not a crypto ban. Ethiopia has not criminalised holding digital assets, trading non-birr pairs, using stablecoins, or licensed crypto mining. 

The NBE’s public notice targeted platforms that coordinate birr settlement through bank transfers and mobile money without operating as licensed payment systems. 

The P2P Exit

The NBE’s legal argument is based on already existing legal protocols, especially Proclamation No. 1282/2023, which gives the central bank authority over payment systems and foreign exchange governance.

Its position is that P2P platforms enabling birr-denominated crypto trades are operating an unlicensed payment infrastructure by facilitating currency exchange and fund transfers without the required anti-money laundering (AML) or counter-terrorism financing (CTF) controls mandated by law.

The legal theory behind this reasoning is not strange in itself. It’s the same legal theory that central banks in Kenya, Nigeria, and across West Africa have used with numerous crypto exchanges.

When a platform connects buyers and sellers and coordinates settlement in local currency, it’s performing a payment function which requires a license.

Speaking to Shega, after the announcement of the exit, the Head of Legal at Binance Africa, Larry Cooke, said their decision to exit was “100%, it was based on regulatory considerations and regulatory pressures. And as Binance, we take compliance seriously.” 

He added, “There was clear instruction of what the regulator expected. And legitimately and legally, you must comply with it. But it’s also about how you comply with it. It’s not something where we just switch off and then forget our users. It’s something where we say, “Dear Mr Regulator, we’re going to switch off, but this is how we’re going to do it.” We need to be sensitive to the needs of the users. We need [a grace] period so that we can assist the users. And they understand that.”

A $1 Million-a-Day Trading Market Goes Underground

Reports indicate that the USDT-birr P2P market was processing an estimated $1 million or more in daily volume before the crackdown. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT were the market’s most popular cryptocurrencies. 

That figure is indicative of the crypto demand in Ethiopia. As of May 2026, Ethiopia’s annual inflation rate was at 11.7%. Birr shed roughly 30% of its value in mid-2024 and, by 2025, recorded a 180% increase in retail-sized stablecoin transactions. 

Increased inflation, crypto mining, and the use of stablecoins in retail and international transactions were all factors driving Ethiopia’s crypto market. Binance’s exit doesn’t eliminate that need. It relocates it. 

With formal foreign exchange channels remaining heavily restricted, many day-to-day crypto users, including freelancers, remote workers, and small businesses, turn to other options. 

Telegram and WhatsApp are already becoming new trading grounds for Ethiopia’s crypto market. Telegram Wallet recently added support for the Amharic language, providing an extra layer of accessibility for the first time.

These informal markets are more difficult for regulators to monitor than traditional platforms like Binance, so there’s little to no protection. Users have no escrow, there’s no KYC, so if something goes wrong, users have little recourse. In a roundabout way, the NBE’s stated concern about unregulated financial activity is about to become more valid.

We saw this in Nigeria in 2024. After the Central Bank of Nigeria forced exchanges to disable naira P2P trading, activity didn’t stop. Informal networks absorbed the volume. 

Although Nigeria has since moved toward a formal VASP licensing framework, some of the problems remain. The Ethiopian crypto trajectory is beginning to look similar to Nigeria’s: enforcement first, framework second.

What Comes After the Crypto Crackdown

The NBE has indicated it is building a comprehensive digital asset regulatory framework. The government’s National Digital Payments Strategy for 2026–2030 includes a formal study of stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. The intent, it seems, is regulation rather than prohibition.

The gap between that intent and the current enforcement posture is where Ethiopia’s 1.8 million crypto users are now operating.

Kenya’s VASP Act and Nigeria’s evolving SEC framework offer potential models for the NBE to follow. They include formal licensing for virtual asset service providers, AML/CFT compliance requirements, and authorised local currency-paired trading under regulated conditions.

Either of these paths would allow exchanges, like Binance, OKX and Bybit to re-enter the market legally. Neither path, however, is imminent.

For now, the practical effect of the NBE’s enforcement action is the opposite of what a well-designed regulatory regime should produce.

The traditional crypto infrastructure is gone, replaced by informal channels that carry significant risk, leaving the Ethiopian market, built on real economic need, a little more vulnerable.