FG slams $10bn fine on Binance over illegal transactions

The Federal Government has imposed a $10 billion fine on cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, over alleged illegal transactions in the country.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in an interview with BBC on Friday, March 1, 2024.

The Star had reported that security operatives arrested two Binance executives in Abuja.

The executives were said to have flown to Nigeria following the country’s decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites last week but they were arrested by the officials at the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) on Wednesday, February 28.

Onanuga stated that Binance made significant profits from the platform’s “illegal transactions” while the country sustained enormous losses.

The presidential spokesman said Binance is not present or registered in Nigeria, adding that users were arbitrarily fixing dollar-naira exchange rates on the platform, which he said had a detrimental effect on the value of the local currency.

2 Binance executives arrested in Abuja

Onanuga, who said the government has been observing the detrimental effects of Binance’s operations in Nigeria, disclosed that Binance influenced the increase in foreign exchange rates through currency speculations which made the naira value fall by almost 70 per cent in recent months.

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 stabilise the economy.”

He, however, noted that Binance had already stopped naira-related transactions on its platform, adding that its officials were working with the federal government by giving helpful information.

The Star