REGULATION | Binance Birr (ETB) Trading Suspension Triggers Backlash, Exposes Ethiopia’s Hidden Crypto Economy

Following a recent announcement, Binance will be suspending trading with Ethiopian Birr (ETB) starting on May 15 2026, protest among Binance P2P users in Ethiopia has emerged revealing the scale of use for the service.

Ethiopian protests have started to emerge following the announcement with many claiming this was the only available channel for them to access dollars to pay for services.

The suspension comes after months of government crackdowns across the economy on services and activities. The crackdown stems from a wide-ranging intelligence effort to disrupt networks involved in illegal forex trading, money laundering, tax evasion, and unauthorised money transfers, including through unregulated digital and cryptocurrency platforms.

Based on user testimonials online, it is now emerging that Binance P2P trading was used massively by:

• freelancers
• small business owners
• remote workers
• traders, and
• countless Ethiopians

as a financial tool.

According to one user, the USDT-Birr market size in Ethiopia could be over $1 million daily with:

• The most important component being the Birr-USDT P2P market – small compared to Kenya and Nigeria, but significant in Ethiopian context
• The market is primarily driven by FX shortage, Birr depreciation/devaluation, remittances, and freelance payments
• There’re about 1.5 million crypto users in Ethiopia
• The P2P crypto market is facilitated by the development of electronic payment systems such as TeleBirr, CBirr and others

Government concern over P2P crypto markets reportedly include:

• their use for illegal money laundering
• acting as parallel markets for FX thus driving dollar volatility, and
• the lack of control over these channels

have been highlighted as part of the crackdown.

BitKE compiled a list of some of these complaints to understand the scale of use for Binance P2P in the country and the level of disruption alarm it is causing to the crypto space in Ethiopia.

“P2P allowed us to pay for Server costs, APIs, Meta Ads, Google Ads, hosting, domains, eCom, subscriptions for our businesses without depending on anyone with our hard earned money. Unfortunately the biggest obstacle for the youth is our own government. Time to leave.”

“Banning Binance P2P would not be economic reform. It would be a direct attack on financial access, personal freedom, and the civil rights of Ethiopians already struggling under severe economic pressure.”

“I’ll just leave this country & do my business from aboard, I need dollars for facebooks ads & there is no legal way!!!”

“Once again, fear and control mania taking over. The youth need to earn, improve their lives and liberate their economic status. The govt benefits nothing from zeroing them out. They will either find other means or leave the country entirely.”

“The thing is, the money launderers will find other means like they have always done. There is nothing that will stop them. What this will stop is freelancers earning a living while living in Ethiopia.”

“I understand concerns about P2P trading influencing the USD/ETB parallel market. But Binance P2P has become the largest and fastest gateway for thousands of Ethiopian youths to access global crypto markets and earn a living. Cryptocurrency is now deeply integrated into the world’s financial system, recognized by governments and institutions like the IMF. Instead of outright restrictions, let’s focus on spreading awareness, building safer frameworks, and creating a regulated environment that protects users, supports platforms, and accelerates Ethiopia’s digital economy. Our youth deserve better opportunities, not barriers.”

“I don’t know what kind of date the government has but there is huge unavoidable number of youth working remotely & Binance P2P is almost the only viable way to exchange USD for ETB Why block the access and force the skilled youth to migrate.”

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