Binance Under Scrutiny Again: Nigeria Demands Data on Top 100 Users
Nigeria seems to have escalated the ongoing conflict with cryptocurrency exchange Binance as authorities have requested for comprehensive user data and transaction records from the platform.
According to a report from the Financial Times, Nigeria has specifically asked Binance to provide information on its top 100 users in the country, along with the complete transaction records for the last six months.
Nigeria Escalates Dispute with Binance
This recent development occurs against the backdrop of an overarching dispute between Nigerian authorities and Binance. Previous accounts suggested that Nigerian regulators sought a substantial fine of $10 billion from Binance over supposedly benefiting from “unlawful transactions’ to the detriment of the nation.
However, addressing the contentious sanction concerning Binance, a Special Adviser to the Nigerian president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, clarified that his statements had been misunderstood, emphasizing that a definitive verdict on levying a fine against Binance has yet to be made.
Allegations and Accusations against Binance
Additionally, the country’s central bank governor, Olayemi Cardoso, accused Binance Nigeria of processing illicit flows amounting to $26 billion from unidentifiable sources in the previous year. Furthermore, Nigerian authorities have accused Binance of contributing to the devaluation of the national currency, the naira. This led Binance dropping the Nigerian Naira from its peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platform.
Since February 26, the detention of two Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, in a Nigerian government facility stems from escalating tensions between Binance and the Nigerian government sparked by these allegations.
The House of Representatives in Nigeria, shortly after the detention, invited Binance CEO Richard Teng to attend a session with its Committee on Financial Crimes to address concerns regarding potential links to terrorism financing and money laundering within the cryptocurrency exchange.
Uncertainty over Resolution
Binance has not commented yet on the reported request for user data. Nevertheless, the exchange issued a statement on Tuesday affirming its active cooperation with Nigerian authorities to secure the safe return of the detained executives to their families.
The resolution of the conflict between Binance and Nigerian regulators is still unclear. In the meantime, Binance users in Nigeria have had to explore alternative payment platforms for their financial transactions.
