The Nigerian government is reportedly considering imposing fines of up to $10 billion on Binance.
Local media outlets reported that Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to the Nigerian president, said the exchange profited from facilitating illegal transactions in the African country while the nation suffered huge losses. According to Onanuga, the fine would be a form of retribution for the exchange actions.
Besides that, the report stated that Binance operated in the country without proper registrations.
As of press time, Binance has yet to respond to CryptoSlate’s request for comment.
Binance is cooperating
The exchange is also reportedly cooperating with the ongoing investigations in Nigeria.
Premium Times Editor Oladeinde Olawoyin said:
“The government says Binance is already cooperating by providing useful information and had already suspended naira-related transactions on its platform.
This aligns with Binance’s previous commitment to collaborate with local authorities to ensure a fraud-free and manipulation-free platform for its users. The exchange said:
“As industry leaders, we are working hand in hand with local authorities, lawmakers, and regulators to ensure we act on non-compliance.”
Over the past weeks, the Nigerian government has increased scrutiny of Binance’s involvement in the country’s foreign exchange (FX) issues. Reports confirm that Nigerian authorities have launched an investigation into Binance and arrested two of the exchange’s executives upon their arrival in the country to address the ban on the crypto exchange website.
The authorities also alleged that Binance Nigeria facilitated $26 billion in transactions from undisclosed sources last year.
In response to the crackdown, Binance removed Nigeria’s fiat currency, Naira, from its peer-to-peer (p2p) platform.
The exchange has yet to make any new public comments on the issues surrounding it in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Binance’s clash with the Nigerian government comes on the heels of its settlement with US authorities. Last year, the firm agreed to pay a record fine exceeding $4 billion for failing to adhere to financial laws.
