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Nigeria govt slams $10 billion fine on Binance
The Nigerian government’s retribution claim is coming months after Binance pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle criminal money laundering charges levied by the U.S. Department of Justice.
ByOladeinde Olawoyin March 1, 2024 Reading Time: 3 mins read
The Nigerian government is demanding at least $10 billion as retribution from Binance amid crackdown on the crypto exchange platform in desperate moves to salvage the value of the nation’s local currency.

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, made this known Friday morning in an interview with the BBC.

Binance profited substantially from its “illegal transactions” in Nigeria while the nation suffered huge losses, Mr Onanuga said during the interview, monitored by PREMIUM TIMES.


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Earlier on Friday, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) confirmed that the crypto exchange platform is being investigated by the Nigerian authorities.



FIRS
In its first official confirmation of the clampdown efforts on the activities of Binance and other crypto platforms, a top official of the ONSA confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that the security adviser’s office is coordinating an interagency investigation into the operations of Binance.

“I am confirming that the office of the national security adviser, as part of ongoing operations in the foreign exchange market with the CBN and other law enforcement and security agencies, is coordinating an interagency investigation into the operations of Binance,” Zakari Mijinyawa, head of Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, told PREMIUM TIMES after multiple requests for comment Thursday.

Binance Founder, Changpeng Zhao
Binance Founder, Changpeng Zhao
However, Mr Mijinyawa did not provide any other details about the investigations as of press time Thursday night.

On Wednesday, this newspaper reported how the government detained two executives of the crypto exchange platform amid desperate efforts to stabilise the nation’s foreign exchange market.

Sources with details of the matter told PREMIUM TIMES that the two executives were detained in Abuja, the federal capital territory, days after they flew into the country as part of moves to negotiate with the Nigerian authorities amid crackdown on the crypto platform.

READ ALSO: UK regulator bans crypto exchange group Binance
They had arrived in Nigeria earlier in the week to negotiate with the government amid



Background
Last week, PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Nigerian government blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to avert what it considers continuous manipulat