“In the case of Binance, in the last one year alone, $26 billion has passed through Binance Nigeria from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify”
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Tuesday raised concerns over the sum of $26 billion that flowed through Binance Nigeria over the past year from “unidentified sources”.
The Nigerian government recently blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to avert what it considers continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, while addressing journalists during a question and answer session at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, expressed worry over the significant volume of transactions passing through Binance Nigeria, emphasizing that the origins and beneficiaries of these funds are yet to be adequately identified.
“We are concerned that certain practices go on that indicate illicit flows going through a number of these entities and suspicious flows at best.
“In the case of Binance, in the last one year alone, $26 billion has passed through Binance Nigeria from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify,” he stated.
The governor reiterated the importance of collaboration with government agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the police, and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to address such illicit financial activities.
He said the CBN is determined to take decisive actions to prevent manipulative practices in the financial market.
“But suffice to say that we are determined to do everything it takes to ensure that we take charge of our market or put it differently and do not allow others to manipulate our markets in a way that ends up distortionary and sub-optimises for all Nigerians.
“We will not accept it and we will do everything possible to prevent any of these kinds of infractions from taking place,” he said.
Last week, it was reported that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) communicated the directive to block Binance and other crypto websites to telcos.
Apart from Binance, other platforms such as Forextime, OctaFX, Crypto, FXTM, Coinbase, and Kraken, among others, were equally blocked.
