The federal government has demanded at least $10 billion in retribution from Binance for profiting from “its illegal transactions” in Nigeria.
Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s special adviser on information and strategy, revealed this on Friday in an interview with the BBC.
The development coincides with the federal government’s crackdown on cryptocurrency exchange platforms, including Binance.
Last week, the Nigerian government reported that two top executives of Binance had been detained on charges of price manipulation.
Speaking during the interview, Onanuga said the cryptocurrency platform is causing massive losses for “fixing exchange rates”.
He said the federal government is seeking such retribution from Binance for also fixing foreign exchange rates on its peer-to-peer platform.
Onanuga said:
“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 exchange rate for the country.”
“Binance platform harbours people who fix the exchange rate which quickly affects the Nigerian economy for the time when Nigeria is trying to stabilize the economy.
“Binance staff cooperated with the government to provide information.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared Binance Nigeria Limited, a Binance subsidiary, to be operating illegally on June 9, 2023.
Onanuga previously stated that if the federal government does not crack down on Binance, it will destroy Nigeria’s economy.
The federal government, on Wednesday reportedly detained two top executives from Binance as part of a crackdown on the company.