Celestia Labs, a tech platform, has blocked Nigerian residents from its faucet feature, sparking widespread outrage. Co-founder Mustafa Al-Bassam announced the decision on X on July 7, 2026, apologizing but explaining that the majority of Nigerian users withdrew the $5 (N6,876.50) intended for testing the product.
Co-Founder Explains the Block
Mustafa Al-Bassam tweeted: "I apologise, we had to block Nigerian residents from the faucet because most of them were withdrawing the $5 that was meant to be for testing the product." He attached a chart showing the country-by-country breakdown of "TIA bridged out" — the amount of TIA tokens bridged to other blockchain networks. Nigeria dominated with 9,189 withdrawals, compared to just 638 for the second-ranked country, the UK. This means Nigeria accounts for the overwhelming majority of the activity in the chart.
Mixed Reactions from the Public
The decision elicited strong reactions on social media. User @Edikan59948852 asked: "Does this apology mean you're reinstating them? Please, next time single out those individuals and mete out your punishment. Stop letting a few represent the whole." Another user, @Runtime_Ricky, said: "No wonder cus I've been trying to open the page for ages and or still isn't working....so what are the genuine users gonna do now." @savixbt commented: "Wait, so you mean 9,189 people withdrew $5? 'Tech is good.'"
@algo_reedim added: "Come on now. 'We are 200m+ people, you cannot be judging us based on what just 9k people did? Let more come in! By the way, spot our colonizers at number 2. I guess the apple never falls far away from the tree. Well well, they may even be Nigerians living in the UK.'" @BigBaby156505 remarked: "So you put money there for sign up bonus but get mad when people actually withdraw the money after signing up." @youusayywhat said: "Abuse of power smh You didn't say we shouldn't withdraw Can you increase the $5 to $20 and unblock Nigeria we won't withdraw again." @CitySkyBluees noted: "This is a bad look for Nigeria. The funny thing is that it can be just one person or a group of people who withdrew those funds on multiple occasions."
Broader Context of Tech Restrictions in Nigeria
This incident follows other tech platforms imposing restrictions on Nigeria. Legit.ng previously reported that Cape Verde halted visa-on-arrival for 96 countries, affecting Nigeria. Additionally, TikTok temporarily restricted its LIVE feature in Nigeria during late-night hours. At its West Africa Safety Summit in Dakar, Senegal, TikTok reported that in Q2 2025, it acted against over 2.3 million LIVE sessions and over 1 million LIVE creators globally for violating LIVE monetisation rules. In Nigeria alone, 49,512 LIVE sessions were banned in the same period. TikTok also removed over 3.7 million videos posted in Nigeria for Community Guidelines violations between April and June 2025.
