Nigeria detains two Binance executives

NIGERIAN authorities have reportedly detained two high-profile Binance executives as part of the government's intensified efforts to stabilise the nation’s foreign exchange market and salvage the value of the local currency.

The two executives travelled to Nigeria after the recent ban of Binance and several cryptocurrency trading platforms to halt what it described as continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.

Upon arrival, they were apprehended by the office of the national security adviser, who also confiscated their passports, as reported by the Financial Times.

Yemi Cardoso, Nigeria's central bank governor, during the monetary policy meeting earlier this week, stated that Binance Nigeria has facilitated transactions exceeding US$26 billion from unidentified sources in one year.

According to PREMIUM TIMES, the Nigerian authorities requested Binance executives to provide data relating to transactions involving the Nigerian Naira on the Binance platform in the last seven years. They also demanded that some other data relating to Nigeria be deleted from the Binance platform.

However, the Binance executives insisted that they should be taken to their respective countries’ embassies before they could comply.

As of Wednesday, the complete identities of the two Binance executives remain unclear. However, according to the information gathered, one of them is American, and the other is British-Pakistani. The Nigerian government has secured a court warrant to detain the officials for at least twelve days in the first instance.

A source familiar with the situation told PREMIUM TIMES that the investigation has been transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Meanwhile, the two executives are being held at a guest house near the Office of the National Security Adviser. —Business Insider Africa