Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 10 arrested 792 people linked to a massive crypto-romance scam operating out of Lagos. The suspects, who included 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, and several other foreign nationals, were caught during a surprise raid at an imposing seven-story structure known as Big Leaf in the affluent Victoria...Read More
Nigerian authorities have reportedly dropped all charges against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan. The American and his employer had been facing accusations of money laundering. This legal development follows the government’s earlier decision to drop tax evasion charges against both. Health Concerns and U.S. Pressure While the charges were primarily directed at the crypto exchange, which...Read More
The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, continues to drag on. A judge has denied the second bail application for the exchange’s executive, who has been detained in the country since February. According to a report from local media Nairametrics, Justice Emeka Nwite denied Binance’s head of...Read More
The U.S. government is quietly pressuring Nigeria to release Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive detained in the country since February. Gambaryan has reportedly faced serious health issues while in custody, prompting calls for his release on humanitarian grounds. Humanitarian Concerns According to a New York Times report, two anonymous senior State Department officials revealed that...Read More
Richard Teng has publicly condemned the Nigerian government over what he describes as the “inhumane treatment” of Tigran Gambaryan, the company’s Head of Crime Compliance, who has been detained in the West African country for the past six months. Teng’s statement comes in response to a recently surfaced video that shows Gambaryan in visible distress...Read More
Leading crypto exchange OKX has announced the discontinuation of its services in Nigeria, citing recent regulatory changes. According to emails sent to OKX’s Nigerian users, customers have until August 30 to withdraw their assets from the exchange, as any remaining balances on the platform will become subject to restrictions afterward. OKX Ends Services in Nigeria...Read More
Events in the saga between Nigeria and Binance continue to unfold. This time, the country dropped tax charges against the exchange’s executives. According to a tweet by Nigerian journalist Alexander Onukwue, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria has withdrawn the tax evasion charges against Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, and...Read More
A group of U.S. lawmakers has called on President Joe Biden to intervene in the detention of Tigran Gambaryan, a high-ranking executive at Binance, who has been held by Nigerian authorities for nearly three months. The appeal, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and supported by 11 other congressional leaders, demands...Read More
The Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has pointed fingers at the Nigerian Correctional Service for failing to produce detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan at the Federal High Court in Abuja on tax evasion charges. Reportedly, Gambaryan was a no-show in court on May 22, slated for arraignment on tax evasion accusations by the FIRS....Read More
The Nigerian government has denied the allegations made by Binance’s CEO, Richard Teng, claiming that its officials demanded a $150 million bribe to settle the criminal charges against the crypto exchange. In an official statement released on Wednesday, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Rabiu Ibrahim, dismissed the claims as...Read More
Binance CEO Richard Teng has advocated for the release of Tigran Gambaryan, head of the crypto exchange’s Financial Crime Compliance team, who has been detained by the Nigerian government for over 70 days. Gambaryan reportedly flew to the country in February for talks on collaborative policy meetings, only to be detained later. This move by...Read More
Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan remained entangled in a legal battle with Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with his bail application hearing being postponed yet again. The Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned his case after the EFCC’s lawyer requested more time to respond to new issues Gambaryan’s defense team raised. Gambaryan’s Appeal Adjourned...Read More
Binance executive Nadeem Anjarwalla is facing extradition from Kenya following his escape from custody in Nigeria. He was spotted after a manhunt was launched from Nigeria that led the authorities to Kenya, where his whereabouts were discovered. Binance Executive Set to Be Extradited According to a local report, the Nigerian government is working on extraditing...Read More
Tigran Gambaryan, a top executive at Binance, has taken legal action against the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria. According to a Reuters report, Gambaryan, an American citizen, has filed a Fundamental Rights suit alleging wrongful detention by Nigerian authorities. Unjust Detention and Court...Read More
The Nigerian government has slammed the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, with four counts of tax evasion charges as the saga between the entities deepens. According to a report from local media Premium Times, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) filed the charges at a Federal High Court in the nation’s capital, Abuja, on March...Read More
A Federal High Court in Nigeria has ordered the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, to release comprehensive data of all local users trading on its platform to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as the clampdown on the firm for its alleged role in the devaluation of the naira continues. According to a report...Read More
Nigerian authorities are urging Binance to provide details about its most prominent 100 users within the nation amidst a continued clampdown on the platform. The request is a focal point in discussions between Binance and Nigeria, with the government perceiving the exchange as a key obstacle hindering its attempts to strengthen the national currency, the...Read More
Binance has announced its plans to halt its services involving the Nigerian Naira (NGN) due to heightened regulatory attention from authorities in Nigeria. The crypto exchange said that it will remove all current NGN pairs by Thursday, and any remaining NGN balances will be transformed into USDT by Friday. According to the official blog post,...Read More
In a recent press release addressing its Nigerian customers, major crypto exchange Binance distanced itself from the rumored currency speculation that is putting downward pressure on the already weak naira. The development comes amid reports of the cryptocurrency exchange earlier placing a cap on USDT sales on its peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace. Binance Reportedly Under Scrutiny...Read More
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted a ban preventing banks from operating accounts for cryptocurrency service providers in the country. According to a December 22 circular sent to banks, the affected financial institutions can now open accounts for Virtual Assets Service Providers (VASPs) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in line with...Read More
Bitcoin is trading at a premium in several countries facing extreme currency devaluation and political uncertainty, including Nigeria and Turkey. As of Friday morning, the leading cryptocurrency is hitting new all-time highs (ATH) in Nigeria, Turkey, and Argentina as residents turn to the safe haven asset amid soaring inflation rates. Bitcoin Hits New High in...Read More
Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the smallest cryptocurrency economy, representing only 2.3% of the global transaction volume from July 2022 to June 2023. During this period, the region accumulated an estimated $117.1 billion in on-chain value. No country exemplifies this better than Nigeria, according to blockchain Chainalysis, which ranks second overall on the blockchain...Read More
A recent study by blockchain and Web3 software company Consensys has found Nigeria to be leading in cryptocurrency awareness across all continents, with 99% having heard of the asset class and 91% willing to invest. The survey was taken by 15,158 people online across 15 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Argentina, France, India, Japan,...Read More
A joint research conducted by Consensys and YouGov estimated that 92% of the participants are aware of cryptocurrencies. 37% see the asset class as the future money, whereas 26% are on the opposite corner, viewing it as a scam. Residents of the United States and the United Kingdom are more likely to associate digital currencies...Read More
While Binance is busy fighting a pitched legal battle in the U.S., its alleged woes in another part of the world seem to have been unfounded. Entity Previously Unknown to Binance Recently, the Nigerian SEC declared an entity known as Binance Nigeria Limited illegal, forbidding it from doing any business within the African nation. According...Read More
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMCDE) has approved the National Blockchain Policy as the country doubles down on creating a blockchain-powered economy. The adoption of the policy by the government will pave the way for the formal utilization of the technology in the country, which has seen significant crypto adoption in recent...Read More
MetaMask is integrating with crypto fintech platform MoonPay to expand its offering in Nigeria. According to MetaMask developer ConsenSys, Nigeria happens to be one of the major markets for the crypto wallet service globally, ranking third in active mobile users. The latest move to gain a stronger foothold in the country comes in response to...Read More
The cash withdrawal restrictions imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have made a strong case for Bitcoin as a solid store of value and a censorship-resistant currency. Nigeria is currently facing a shortage of physical cash after the CBN redesigned its banknotes, causing the old bills of the local naira currency to become...Read More
The price of bitcoin (BTC) in Nigeria has significantly increased beyond the global market valuation amid growing demand for the asset among citizens in the West African country. At the time of writing, BTC was trading at 17.5 million naira (approx. $38,005) on the leading Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange NairaEX. This means that Nigerians have to...Read More
Nigeria is planning to push a law to legalize the usage of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, backpedaling its stance on the industry. According to a local newspaper, Babangida Ibrahim, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions of Nigeria, disclosed details about the new law that seeks to amend the existing “Investment...Read More
