Nigeria Seeks Binance Transaction Records Amid Economic Scrutiny

Nigerian authorities have requested that cryptocurrency exchange Binance provide a list of the country’s top 100 users, along with a complete transaction history for the past six months, according to the Financial Times.

The period in question is critical as it coincides with the timeline of the Nigerian naira’s devaluation.

Additionally, Nigeria’s Office of the National Security Adviser has asked Binance to settle any outstanding tax obligations.

A court-sanctioned 14-day detention period for Binance employees Tigran Gambaryan and Nadim Anjarwalla ended on March 12. Hearings on its extension are scheduled for today, March 13, sources familiar with the situation told the FT.

According to these sources, no charges have been filed against any top executives, who are being held as “hostages.” However, one source noted that they are being treated well “to avoid a diplomatic incident.” Gambaryan and Anjarwalla are citizens of the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, both of which are Nigeria’s closest Western allies.

Binance representatives declined to comment on the specifics of the Nigerian authorities’ claims but stated they are working on bringing their colleagues home. Sources added that the exchange had been unable to contact the detainees for a week, as their passports and mobile phones were confiscated.

Gambaryan and Anjarwalla have been forcibly held by Nigerian authorities since February 25 and “subjected to questioning as part of an investigation by security agencies into currency market regulation issues.”

Nigerian authorities are investigating the impact of cryptocurrency exchanges on the country’s economy, with access to trading platforms Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken blocked. According to the local central bank, $26 billion has flowed through Binance in the past year, with sources “impossible to accurately determine.”

In early March, reports emerged that Nigerian authorities allegedly demanded $10 billion in compensation from the exchange for manipulating the naira’s exchange rate. However, both the trading platform and Nigerian presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga later denied this information.

The local House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes has also demanded that Binance CEO Richard Teng appear before the agency to testify regarding alleged terrorism financing and money laundering.