Written by Ahmed Oluwasanjo
Compiled by: Moni, Odaily Planet Daily
On the last day of February, a piece of news related to Binance attracted the attention of the crypto community - the West African country Nigeria demanded $10 billion in compensation from Binance. However, according to the latest news, this matter seems to have reversed. What happened behind the scenes?
Next, Odaily Planet Daily will take you to filter out the causes and consequences.
Binance vs. Nigeria event timeline review
On February 28, Reuters revealed that two Binance executives were detained in Nigeria. People familiar with the matter revealed that after Nigeria decided to ban multiple cryptocurrency trading websites last week, the executives flew to Nigeria, but they were detained by the country. He was detained by the Office of the National Security Adviser and his passport was confiscated.
On February 29, multiple local media reported that Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso said that $26 billion worth of untraceable funds flowed through Binance Nigeria last year. Nigeria is facing a foreign exchange crisis and is looking for ways to limit capital outflows as the local currency, the naira, hit a record low on Wednesday. In addition to measures such as imposing taxes on foreign workers, renewed calls for restrictions on cryptocurrencies in the country have recently made headlines, and users will be blocked from accessing certain crypto exchanges — including Binance.
In fact, Nigeria has been a rapid adopter of cryptocurrencies. However, due to fund traceability issues, the services of some exchanges have given the country’s regulatory agencies a very “headache”. Local media Nairametrics reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria is cooperating with multiple government agencies and police. , to further investigate the flow of these funds, and as early as 2023, Binance and an entity called "Binance Nigeria Limited" have been warned by the country's securities regulator to conduct "illegal activities."
The whole situation was exacerbated by a BBC report on March 1 that Bayo Onanuga, Nigeria’s presidential media adviser, asked Binance to pay at least $10 billion in compensation, a demand that comes amid Nigeria’s crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges and the national currency. Raised in the context of the devaluation, he also claimed that Binance, if not stopped, will destroy the Nigerian economy due to the arbitrary fixation of foreign exchange rates.
On the same day, Binance removed the Nigerian currency, the naira, from its peer-to-peer (P2P) functionality.
A dramatic turn of events? Nigeria changed its tune and “never said the fine on Binance was $10 billion.”
Just after multiple media reported that it would be fined $10 billion in Nigeria, a response from Binance co-founder He Yi circulated in the community, which read: "Who is worth $10 billion?"
Soon, things seemed to take a turn.
According to the latest news from local media Gazettegr, Binance has stated on Friday that it has not entered into any negotiations with the Nigerian government regarding the possibility of paying a fine of up to 10 billion U.S. dollars, which apparently contradicts reports published by the BBC. An undisclosed person from the exchange The named official said:
"We have recently discussed with Nigeria ways to resolve the issue, but we have not heard any request for $10 billion."
Interestingly, Binance seems to be in no mood to discuss paying hefty compensation to the Nigerian government to restore recently cut-off services, or releasing executives detained for alleged involvement in manipulation. Instead, the Binance official added:
"Binance's goal is to build a good relationship with the Nigerian government and people and hope to see services in Nigeria restored soon, but we have no intention of paying fines for people or services."
What happened next shocked the people who had eaten melon before.
Nigeria’s presidential media adviser, Bayo Onanuga, has urgently clarified that his statements to the BBC were distorted by the British media outlet and that he never said the company had been informed or that Nigeria’s regulator had decided to impose a fine. Bayo Onanuga explains:
“I said the Nigerian government could impose a huge fine on Binance for what happened, but I never said Binance had been informed of the fine, and I never said the fine would definitely be $10 billion, I just said it was possible. A certain amount of fines will be levied because nothing has been finalized yet.” (Bayo Onanuga repeatedly emphasized the uncertainty of fines).
It is worth mentioning that although it is unclear what measures Binance has taken to release its personnel, Bayo Onanuga revealed that the detained "Binance employees have cooperated with the Nigerian government to provide information."
In summary, "Nigeria will fine Binance $10 billion" is likely to be a big own incident, and the BBC's misunderstanding report has caused the information to be fermented incorrectly. After all-"Who is worth $10 billion?"
