The Nigerian Federal Government has imposed a fine of $10 billion on Binance, a cryptocurrency trading platform, over allegations that it has contributed to the country’s FX crisis. Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s special assistant on information and strategy, revealed the news in an interview with the BBC on Friday. Onanuga stated that Binance has made substantial profits from its “illegal transactions” in Nigeria, resulting in significant losses for the country. He also mentioned that Binance is not authorized to operate in Nigeria since it is not registered in the country.
Onanuga explained that Binance users have been using the platform to arbitrarily determine the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Nigerian naira, which has had a negative impact on the value of the local currency. He also mentioned that the Nigerian government has received valuable information from the Binance team, which has been cooperating with them, and that all naira-related transactions on the platform have been suspended.
n 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.