Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, has been fined $10 billion by the Nigerian government for making money via “illegal transactions,” according to Bayo Onanuga, a special advisor to President Bola Tinubu. In a Friday interview with the BBC, Onanuga revealed the monetary fine.
In recent months, the government’s position on the exchange has been rather clear. In fact, just this week, the government intended to come down heavily on unpaid taxes from unregistered exchanges, and it had already arrested officials from Binance.
Ongoing Crisis
Binance has had a rough few months. A lengthy U.S probe led to heavy penalties and a leadership transition at Binance after years of scrutiny. A different nation has levied a hefty financial fine on it now.
In an interview with the BBC, the special assistant to President Tinubu said that Binance had been fined $10 billion by the Nigerian government. The nation is calling out the exchange, saying that it made money off of “illegal transactions.”
.jpeg)
Onanuga stated
“The platform fixes the exchange rate for the country and it is an illegal rate. The CBN is the only authority that can fix the change rate for the country. Binance platform harbors people who fix the exchange rate which quickly affects the Nigerian economy for the time when Nigeria is trying to stabilize the economy.”
Since the Naira’s depreciation versus the US dollar has reached new lows, Nigeria is now experiencing a currency crisis. Even before his interview with the BBC, Onanuga had been demanding that Binance explain his views on the cryptocurrency exchange’s impact on the Nigerian economy.