The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria, is considering imposing huge fines, potentially amounting to billions of dollars, on Binance, one of the world’s largest exchanges, and other cryptocurrency companies operating within the country.
On Tuesday, Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, disclosed that $26 billion flowed through Binance Nigeria in one year from sources and users the apex bank could not identify. Nigeria blames crypto platforms for aiding currency speculation and fueling the rapid devaluation of the naira. Authorities in the country are demanding to see a list of Binance’s Nigerian users since its inception, someone familiar with the matter told FT.
Also, as the regulator with the statutory mandate of investor protection, the Commission urged Nigerians to be wary of investing in crypto-assets, and crypto-asset-related financial products and services if the service provider/its platform is not registered or regulated by the Commission.
Nigerian investors were also warned that investing in crypto-assets is extremely risky and may result in a total loss of their investment.
Source: Business Day