Nigerian cryptocurrency platform Patricia has unilaterally converted outstanding user funds into its own stablecoin, Patricia Token (PTK).
The decision to convert funds was made by the platform three months after the hacker attack, during which Patricia lost $2 million worth of bitcoins and other assets. As a result of the hack, the platform blocked the withdrawal of funds.
Patricia users were able to withdraw funds through the Patricia Plus product recently launched by the platform. However, the emergence of a new product did not help to process all customer withdrawal requests.
Patricia’s management said that if the assets that the platform owes users are converted into the US dollar-backed PTK stablecoin, it will help people get their money back faster. However, many clients have declared that the actions of the Patricia team signal a scam. Some platform clients called the PTK crypto asset a useless token, others accused the platform of spending their money on financing the popular Nigerian reality show Big Brother Naija (BBN):
“Instead of using liquidity to develop the brand, Patricia has decided to spend billions to sponsor BBN and now is going to deprive cryptocurrency investors of their funds.”
Recently, the Nigerian regulator warned citizens of the country against trading on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, saying that the world’s largest exchange does not have permission to operate in the country.
Later, the Association of Exchange Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) even stated that Binance has a bad effect on the national currency.
