Today, the news that Nigeria imposed a $10 billion fine on the crypto exchange Binance came to the fore. At the same time, news came that two Binance officials were arrested. However, a Nigerian government representative denied speculation of a $10 billion fine. Bayo Onanuga, the Nigerian president’s special adviser on information and strategy, told the BBC the allegations were based on a misquote.
Nigeria denied news of 10 billion fine to Binance!
According to People’s Gazette, a local news outlet, Bayo Onanuga changed his statement. Onanuga said his words were misquoted. He also claimed that the competent authority had not made a final decision to fine Binance. Onanuga said Binance had not been notified of the fines or stated that it would be $10 billion. He only mentioned the possibility of a fine, as nothing has been finalized yet.
Regarding the $10 billion fine imposed on Binance, Halk Newspaper said that Binance was unaware. He also stated that he was not informed about this. The cryptocurrency exchange has reportedly expressed reluctance to negotiate any fine with the Nigerian government.
Binance removes Naira from P2P service
The statement comes as crypto exchanges face increasing regulatory scrutiny in Nigeria, with multiple platforms recently banned to protect the country’s national currency, the Nigerian naira. Binance removed Naira from its peer-to-peer (P2P) service on Wednesday, February 28, amid a crackdown on the crypto exchange.
The P2P feature allows users, buyers and sellers to make transactions without involving a third party. During former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the government banned the burgeoning crypto industry. However, following this, in 2021, crypto became popular in Nigeria.
Nigeria is trying to crash cryptocurrency exchanges!
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed concerns over “suspicious fund flows” related to the stock market in 2023. Following this, Binance came under increasing scrutiny in Nigeria. CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso underlined that $26 billion passed from Nigeria through Binance from unidentified sources and users in 2023.
The National Security Advisor’s office reported that it detained two senior Binance officials in Nigeria’s capital Abuja. The country is trying to crash cryptocurrency exchanges to calm speculation about the Naira. The CBN lifted the two-year ban on banks conducting crypto transactions in December 2023. It simultaneously issued guidelines to regulate virtual asset service providers. Nigeria became the second country to launch a central bank digital currency in 2022. The African Stablecoin Consortium also launched the Naira-pegged cNGN stablecoin in the CBN regulatory sandbox in February.
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