Toba Owojaiye, Reporting
Abuja, Nigeria
The Federal Government of Nigeria has reportedly detained two senior executives of Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Truth Live News gathered that the executives were apprehended upon their arrival in Nigeria last week, following a ban on their website. The arrests was made by officials from the office of the National Security Adviser, who also confiscated their passports.
Binance, an online exchange facilitating cryptocurrency trading, operates in a country known for its robust peer-to-peer crypto market. Nigeria has seen significant crypto transactions, reaching $56.7 billion between July 2022 and June 2023, according to sources.
The detainment of Binance executives coincides with the government’s efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency market to curb speculation on the naira and prevent illicit fund movements.
Recently, the Nigerian Communications Commission blocked several crypto firms’ online platforms, including Binance, citing concerns about market manipulation and illicit financial activities.
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, expressed concerns about suspicious financial flows through crypto platforms during a press briefing. He specifically mentioned Binance, revealing that $26 billion had passed through Binance Nigeria in the last year alone, originating from sources that couldn’t be adequately identified.
Cardoso disclosed ongoing investigations by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, police, and national security adviser into other cryptocurrency exchanges.
The Securities and Exchange Commission had previously declared Binance Nigeria Limited’s operations illegal in June 2023. Additionally, reports from the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, hinted at government support for banning Binance and other crypto platforms in Nigeria to address foreign exchange rate distortions.
Efforts to obtain official confirmation from the Office of the National Security Adviser were unsuccessful, while a presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, emphasized the government’s decisive action against Binance. Onanuga warned of the potential economic harm posed by Binance’s influence on foreign exchange rates, accusing the platform of sabotaging Nigeria’s economy.
He urged Nigerians to refrain from using the parallel market for foreign exchange rates, emphasizing the legality and reliability of the central bank’s rates. Onanuga highlighted the need to stabilize the exchange rate to normalize prices of goods and improve the country’s economic health.