FG slams Binance with $10 billion fine

The Federal Government of Nigeria slams a $10 billion fine against Binance, a cryptocurrency trading platform, amidst allegations of worsening the country’s FX crisis.

Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s special assistant on information and strategy, disclosed this during an interview with the BBC on Friday morning.

According to Onanuga, Binance profited significantly from its “unlawful transactions” in Nigeria, resulting in substantial losses for the country. He clarified that Binance is not registered in Nigeria and does not have a license to operate in the country.

He stated that users exploited the platform to arbitrarily determine dollar-naira exchange rates, adversely affecting the value of the local currency.

Onanuga further explained that the Binance team has been cooperating with the Nigerian government by providing valuable information and has suspended all naira-related transactions on the platform.

In his words;

“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 further noted that Binance contributed to the rise in foreign exchange rates through currency speculation, resulting in the Naira’s value plummeting by nearly 70% in recent months.