The Nigerian government has escalated its crackdown on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, by issuing a warrant of arrest against its executives and demanding a whopping $10bn in compensation.
The House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes accused Binance of sponsoring terrorism and financial crimes through its platform, which allows users to trade various digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance Coin.
The committee chairman, Ginger Onwusibe, said on Monday that the warrant of arrest was necessary to compel the Binance executives to appear before the lawmakers and answer the allegations.
However, Binance has denied any wrongdoing and said it was cooperating with the authorities. A lawyer representing the company told the committee that the Binance board was afraid of coming to Nigeria for fear of further arrest by the government.
The lawyer’s statement was dismissed by the lawmakers, who insisted that Binance must face the consequences of its actions.
Binance has been under fire in Nigeria since last week, when two of its executives were arrested and charged with manipulating foreign exchange rates and causing the devaluation of the naira, the local currency.
