The FG has slammed Binance with a $10 billion fines amidst allegations of worsening country’s Foreign Exchange crisis.
The Federal Government of Nigeria slams a $10 billion fine against Binance, a cryptocurrency trading platform, amidst the country’s Foreign Exchange crisis.
Bayo Onanuga, the special assistant on information and strategy for president Tinubu disclosed this during an interview with the BBC on Friday morning.
According to Onanuga, Binance profited significantly from its “unlawful transactions” in Nigeria, which led to 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 further stated that users exploited the platform to arbitrarily determine dollar-naira exchange rates which has an adverse effect on the value of the local currency.
Onanuga also 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.