Glamtush reports that crypto trading platform Binance has been slammed with a $10 billion fine by the Nigeria Government over allegations of influencing the country’s forex crisis.
This online newspaper learnt that the special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in an interview with the BBC on Friday.
According to Onanuga, Binance profited substantially from its “illegal transactions” in Nigeria while the nation suffered huge losses.
He noted that Binance is not registered in Nigeria and has no presence in the country.
According to Onanuga, people used the platform to arbitrarily fix dollar-naira rates. He said the practice negatively impacted the value of the local currency.
He further noted that the Binance team was already cooperating with the Nigerian government by providing useful information, and had already suspended naira-related transactions on the platform.
Onanuga said, “The platform fixes the exchange rate in Nigeria, which is illegal. The Central Bank of Nigeria is the only authority that can fix the exchange rate for Nigeria.
“Binance harbours a lot of people who fix exchange rates which impacted the country badly at a time when the government is trying to stabilize the economy,” he added.
The presidential aide added that Binance influenced the increase in foreign exchange rates through currency speculation, which caused the Naira value to fall by almost 70% in recent months.
Last week, the Nigerian government blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to avert what it considers continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.
Apart from Binance, other platforms such as Forextime, OctaFX, Crypto, FXTM, Coinbase, Kraken, among others, were equally blocked.
Presidency and regulatory sources said the government decided to move against Binance and other crypto firms following reports that currency speculators and money launderers were using them to execute criminal activities. Authorities believe the ‘criminal activities’ going on on platforms are contributing significantly to the weakening of the naira.
Binance, a digital assets platform, serves as a window for peer to peer transactions allowing users to advertise interest to sell or buy currencies of their choice.
In September 2023, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) placed a disclaimer on Binance Nigeria Limited, saying the platform was “neither registered nor regulated by the Commission and its operations in Nigeria are therefore illegal”.
In its reaction last week, Binance said “users behaving in a manipulative way” will be removed from its platform.
“As industry leaders, we are working hand in hand with local authorities, lawmakers, and regulators to ensure we act on non-compliance,” the platform added, noting that it is “setting an upper limit for ads, filtering and removing bad ads, requiring and raising deposits for merchants posting ads as well as processes for actioning against any market manipulators.”
The crypto exchange platform has, however, declined further comments amid the ongoing clampdown.
Binance founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, pleaded guilty and agreed to step down from his position. His criminal trial has been postponed to 30 April by a US court.
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