The Federal Government of Nigeria has imposed a substantial $10 billion fine on Binance, a cryptocurrency trading platform, over allegations of exacerbating the country’s FX crisis.
Bayo Onanuga, special assistant on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, revealed this during an interview with the BBC on Friday morning.
According to Onanuga, Binance has gained significant profits from its alleged "unlawful transactions" in Nigeria, leading to substantial losses for the country. He emphasized that Binance is not registered in Nigeria and lacks the necessary license to operate within the country.
He highlighted that users manipulated the platform to arbitrarily determine dollar-naira exchange rates, negatively impacting the value of the local currency.
Onanuga further clarified that Binance has been cooperating with the Nigerian government, providing crucial information and suspending all naira-related transactions on the platform.
In his statement, he 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 also pointed out that Binance played a role in the surge of foreign exchange rates through currency speculation, leading to a nearly 70% decline in the value of the Naira in recent months.
