Two top executives at Binance were detained in Nigeria on Wednesday as the country steps up its crackdown on currency speculation it blames in part for the decline of the naira.
The executives, an American and a British citizen, were detained by the State Security Service, according to reports. The service did not immediately respond to our inquiry.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has cracked down on cryptocurrency exchanges it says have been used for questionable transactions.
Internet providers in Nigeria imposed a restriction on Binance, Coinbase and other crypto websites last week, but trading continued there as Nigerian users sought alternatives.
On Tuesday, the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said in the last one year $26 billion passed through Binance Nigeria from sources and users that could not be identified.
“We are concerned that certain practices go on that indicate illicit flows going through a number of these entities [crypto platforms] and suspicious flows at best,” Mr Cardoso told reporters.
He said the bank is investigating the activities of cryptocurrency exchanges in Nigeria. “We are determined to do everything it takes to ensure that we do not allow others to manipulate our market,” he said.
Binance halts trading
Binance executives flew into Nigeria following the ban on the company’s trading websites but were detained and their passports seized, according to Financial Times, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Binance halted trading of the naira against bitcoin and tether digital coins on its exchange following the development.
The report said the federal government was demanding to see a list of Binance’s Nigerian users since its inception, a person familiar with the matter said.
Binance has also been in trouble in the United States where the company in November paid $4.3 billion in penalties after pleading guilty to criminal charges related to money laundering and violating international sanctions rules.
Its former chief executive, Changpeng Zhao, also pleaded guilty to a criminal charge related to money laundering and resigned from his position.
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