The Nigerian Federal Government has imposed a $10 billion fine on the cryptocurrency trading platform Binance, alleging its involvement in influencing the country’s forex crisis.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed the fine in an interview with the BBC on Friday.
Onanuga stated that Binance engaged in “illegal transactions” in Nigeria, making significant profits while causing substantial losses to the nation.
According to Onanuga, Binance is not registered in Nigeria and lacks a physical presence in the country. He accused the platform of allowing users to manipulate dollar-naira exchange rates arbitrarily, negatively impacting the value of the local currency.
Onanuga emphasized that fixing the exchange rate in Nigeria is illegal, asserting that only the Central Bank of Nigeria has the authority to determine the exchange rate.
“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,” he said.
The Special Adviser mentioned that the Binance team is cooperating with the Nigerian government by providing relevant information and has already suspended naira-related transactions on its platform.
The Office of the National Security Adviser confirmed on Friday that Nigerian authorities are investigating Binance.
In the first official acknowledgment of the crackdown on Binance and other crypto platforms, an ONSA official informed Premium Times that their office is leading an interagency investigation into Binance’s operations.
