Two top executives of Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms, have been detained in Nigeria by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), according to a report by the Financial Times.
The report said the executives, whose names and nationalities were not disclosed, flew to Nigeria on Wednesday but had their passports seized by the ONSA. They reportedly visited the country in response to the recent crackdown on cryptocurrency trading platforms by the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The reasons for their detention are unknown, but the report said they were asked to provide data on their naira operations for the past seven years and to delete naira information from their platform, requests that they declined.
Their arrest is coming amid allegations of foreign exchange manipulation and illicit transactions by Binance and other crypto firms operating in the country, which have been blamed for the continuous weakening of the naira against the US dollar and other major currencies.
On June 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared the operation of Binance Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Binance, as illegal, saying it had not registered with the regulator as required by law.
On February 21, 2024, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, called for the ban of Binance and other cryptocurrency platforms from operating in the country, accusing them of “blatantly setting exchange rate for Nigeria” and hijacking the role of the CBN.
On February 28, 2024, Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN, revealed that $26 billion had passed through Binance Nigeria from unidentified sources in one year, raising concerns about the impact of such transactions on the country’s monetary policy and financial stability.
Cardoso had said the CBN was collaborating with the SEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the police, and the ONSA to crack down on the alleged economic saboteurs.
Despite the federal government and the CBN’s plan to clamp down on cryptocurrency trading, Binance is still operational in the country. However, the crypto firm has discontinued the trading of the naira against bitcoin and tether cryptocurrencies on its exchange platform, according to its website.
Binance has not issued any official statement on the detention of its executives or the suspension of its naira operations as of the time of filing this report.
