A financial analyst, Kalu Aja, said that the Nigerian government would have handled its ongoing impasse with Binance like the US government did by instituting a lawsuit against the cryptocurrency platform amid a regulatory clampdown.
Aja disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, while reacting to the Nigerian government’s continued detention of two Binance executives.
He said Nigeria would initiate a legal suit against Binance due to its perceived activities in the country instead of arbitrarily detaining the firm’s executives.
“The key here is legal action, which compels Binance to defend itself in court and be subject to legal remedies and punishments.
“In February, Nigeria invited Binance to talks over issues with the exchange rates and allegations of currency manipulation; Binance agreed to speak and sent two senior officials to Nigeria, Tigran Gambaryan, Head of Financial Crimes Compliance and Nadeem Anjarwalla, Regional Manager of Africa; then, Nigeria arrested the officials and has held them to date.
“I am unaware that the FGN has made a legal case against Binance in a Nigerian or foreign court,” he said.
OsunDailyNG recalls that there has been an ongoing standoff between the Nigerian government and Binance.
The development led to Nigeria’s restriction of Binance access in cyberspace around February 21, 2024.
The government blamed Binance for the naira crisis in the foreign exchange market.
Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said $26 billion was funnelled through Binance without a trace last year.
Binance had sent two senior officials to Nigeria, but the Nigerian government detained the duo.
Later, on March 8, Binance discontinued naira transactions on its platform.
