Federal Government of Nigeria Slams $10 Billion Fine on Binance

The federal authorities have punished cryptocurrency trading firm Binance $10 billion for their purported role in the country’s FX crisis.

This announcement was made by President Bola Tinubu’s special assistant on media and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in an interview with the BBC on Friday morning, March 1.

Onanuga asserts that despite significant losses in Nigeria, Binance made a tidy profit from its “illegal transactions” in that country. He went on to state unequivocally that Binance is neither registered nor present in Nigeria.

He claimed that users have depreciated the value of the local currency by using the platform to create arbitrary dollar-naira conversion rates.

Onanuga continued, stating that the Binance team was assisting the Nigerian authorities with useful information and had already banned naira-related transactions on the site.

The exchange rate in Nigeria is fixed by the platform, which is against the law. The sole body with the authority to set Nigeria’s currency rate is the Central Bank of Nigeria. He stated, “Many people who fix exchange rates are employed by Binance, which has a negative impact on the nation during a period when the government is attempting to stabilize the economy.”

He went on to add that the recent 70% decline in the value of the naira was a result of foreign exchange rates rising due in part to Binance’s currency speculation.