Our reporter/ The federal government on Friday said it is demanding at least $10 billion as fine from Binance for profiting from “its illegal transactions” in Nigeria.
Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, who made the disclosure in an interview with the BBC, accused the cryptocurrency outfit of distorting and fixing the country’s foreign exchange rates.
The development comes amid a crackdown on crypto exchange platforms — including Binance — by the federal government.
Nigeria reportedly detained two top executives of Binance on February 208, 2024, over allegations of price manipulations earlier in the week.
Speaking during the interview, Onanuga said the cryptocurrency platform is causing massive losses for “fixing exchange rates”.
According to him, the federal government is seeking such retribution from Binance for also fixing foreign exchange rates on its peer-to-peer platform.
“The platform fixes the exchange rate for the country and it is an illegal rate. The CBN is the only authority that can fix the exchange rate for the country,” he said.
“Binance platform harbours people who fix the exchange rate which quickly affects the Nigerian economy for the time when Nigeria is trying to stabilize the economy.
“Binance staff cooperated with the government to provide information.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had in June 2023, said the operation of Binance Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Binance, was illegal.
Onanuga had in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday said Binance will destroy Nigeria’s economy if the federal government does not clamp down on the company.
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