A Nigerian court ordered Binance to disclose all user data

Nigeria's High Court has ordered the operators of Binance Holdings to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (FCCC) with comprehensive information and data on Nigerians trading on the platform.

According to local news outlet Sahara Reporters, the directive was issued on February 29 in an interim ruling by Justice Emeka Nwaite following an earlier motion filed by the EFCC against cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance.

A former case is where only one party is presented and the defense is barred from presenting an argument due to the lack of prior notice of the argument.

Lawyer Ekele Iheanacho, who represented the anti-graft agency at the inquiry, argued that Bins' activities in Nigeria contained criminal activities.

This assertion contradicts Section 38 of the EFCC Act, 2004 and Section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended) which provide for penalties for failure to comply with the law, which allows reporting of suspicious transactions to the authorities.

In an affidavit, EFEF's Hama Bello stated that the commission must complete the investigation it started after receiving information about money laundering and terrorist financing involving the Binance crypto exchange platform.

According to Bello, when intelligence was received, the AFC Group found users using the cryptocurrency platform for illegal activities such as price discovery, verification and market manipulation, all of which caused massive distortions in the foreign exchange market and the depreciation of the naira. with other currencies.

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The commission has requested to delist the naira from the Binance trading platform, stating that the negative impact of these activities on the Nigerian economy has been communicated to Binance operators.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Flinkap CEO Nathaniel Luz said that while this court order is important to the Nigerian government, it may be the best course of action between Binance and the Nigerian government. Table discussion on this issue.

Bio Onanuga, adviser to the president on information and strategy, argued that Binance and other crypto platforms have seized the naira and caused a sharp decline in the local fiat currency. The authority has proposed banning platforms like Binance in the country.

Nigeria has emerged as one of the fastest growing crypto economies in the world over the past few years. It is also the second largest economy in the world in terms of crypto adoption by 2023.

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