Nigeria Hits Binance With $10bn Fine Amid Crypto Crackdown

In an attempt to salvage the value of the nation’s local currency, the Nigerian government is demanding at least $10 billion in retribution from Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange platform.

Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, disclosed this information during an interview with the BBC on Friday morning.

Onanuga accused Binance of profiting substantially from “illegal transactions” in Nigeria, causing significant losses to the nation.

The government’s move comes amid a crackdown on the cryptocurrency exchange platform.

The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) officially confirmed on Friday that it is coordinating an interagency investigation into the operations of Binance.

The head of Strategic Communication at the ONSA, Zakari Mijinyawa, stated, “I am confirming that the office of the national security adviser, as part of ongoing operations in the foreign exchange market with the CBN and other law enforcement and security agencies, is coordinating an interagency investigation into the operations of Binance.”

Earlier in the week, two executives of Binance were detained in Abuja, the federal capital territory, following their arrival in the country for negotiations with the Nigerian authorities. The meetings reportedly reached a deadlock as Binance officials declined to meet certain demands from the government.

They were accused of operating a billion-dollar business without proper registrations and documentation.

The Nigerian government requested data from Binance executives related to transactions involving the Nigerian Naira on the platform over the past seven years. Additionally, they demanded the deletion of some data related to Nigeria from the Binance platform.

 However, the Binance executives insisted on being taken to their respective countries’ embassies before complying.

While the identities of the detained Binance executives remain undisclosed, it is reported that one is an American, and the other is a British-Pakistani.

The government secured a court warrant to detain them for at least twelve days initially.

On Friday, Onanuga asserted that Binance is not registered in Nigeria and has no physical presence in the country. He alleged that the platform was used to arbitrarily fix dollar-naira rates, negatively impacting the value of the local currency.

Onanuga claimed that Binance is cooperating with the Nigerian government by providing useful information and has already suspended naira-related transactions on the platform.

He said, “If we don’t clamp down on Binance, Binance will destroy the economy of this country.”

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi