Sign Up on MEXCBinance Faces No Confirmed Fine, Nigeria Clarifies After Mix-Up
Highlights
- Nigeria's government denies plans for a $10 billion fine on Binance, citing misquotation of Bayo Onanuga's statements.
- Onanuga clarifies to the People's Gazette that no final decision on fines has been made against Binance.
- The clarification comes amid increased regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria.
The government of Nigeria has refuted the speculations about a possible $10 billion fine for Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange. Despite the claims of the Premium Times, backed by the statement of Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the Nigerian president on information and strategy, the government says these allegations result from misquotation. Onanuga changes his statement to report to the People’s Gazette that his words have been misrepresented, and notes that there hasn’t been a definitive fine to Binance.
In response to the Gazette, Onanuga clarified, “I never said Binance had been informed about the fines or that it would be $10 billion. I only said the amount might be imposed because nothing is final yet.” This clarification is made amid the increasing regulatory attention crypto exchanges are getting in Nigeria, including the recent ban on several platforms to protect the national currency.
Regulatory Scrutiny and Crypto Crackdowns
The context has become more heated since Nigeria decided to ban major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken last week. The action was intended to avoid another devaluation of the Nigerian naira. The crackdown is a drastic change from the past stand of the government where cryptocurrencies are considered as one way to lure investors and support the economy of the country. Further, the recent shift in strategy has intensified the conflict between the Nigerian authorities and the crypto industry and resulted in the brief detention of two top Binance executives who had come to the country.
However, the issue was recently raised when the National Agency for Prospective Projects of Uzbekistan sued Binance for failing to pay a fine for operating without a license. Also, the national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, arrested two officials of Binance under somewhat opaque circumstances. These officials were said to have been coerced to disclose information about the Nigerian users on their platform, stimulating doubts about privacy and regulatory oversight.
Binance Seeks Settlement with Nigerian Authorities
However, Binance pledged to settle the matter with Nigerian officials. Following the accusations, Binance informed the Peoples Gazette, “We recently talked about ways to settle matters with Nigeria, but we never heard any request for $10 billion.” The statement suggests an ongoing conversation between the crypto exchange and Nigerian officials, which might act as a trail to the settlement of the relationship between the crypto industry and the regulatory bodies.
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