After months of teasing a launch, Binance Uganda is officially starting operation. The first local fiat-to-crypto exchange in Uganda is seeking to expand its operations across the region, filled with a population that is largely unbanked yet keenly interested in crypto-trading.
The exchange platform announced on its website that it is officially open for deposits in Ugandan shillings (UGX), bitcoin (BTC) and etherium (ETH) from October 17, 2018, starting 10:00 AM Uganda Time (EAT).
Trading on Binance Uganda will open with BTC/UGX and ETH/UGX trading pairs, with the start time for trading to be announced at a later time. Users will be exempted from trading fees during the first month.
The company also adds that users are now in position to fully complete their account verification in the User Center after logging in, noting the know-your-customer (KYC) procedures are already underway.
Overtime, it has been a hard task for local merchants to convert Ugandan shillings into bitcoin or other digital assets and vice versa, given the regulatory environment that comes with the process.
This has also intruded into the activity of prospective peer-to-peer trading platforms, and since Uganda’s shilling is not valued on the international exchange market, majority of the traders have resorted to WhatsApp and Telegram to conduct business.
With Binance Uganda accepting fiat-to-crypto exchange, we can predict an increase in the digital asset trading industry and possibly government could view the business as legitimate.
According to CoinMarketCap, Binance is the largest international crypto exchange by daily adjusted trading volume.
