Nigeria slaps Binance with $10 billion fine in crypto crackdown

Nigerian authorities have fined Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange, $10 billion. Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu's special adviser, announced the news in a BBC interview Friday morning.

This fine comes amidst an ongoing government investigation into cryptocurrency activity in the country.

Two Binance executives, who flew into Nigeria in response to mounting regulatory pressure, were detained by the Office of the National Security Adviser earlier this week.

Nigeria's central bank governor, Olayemi Cardoso, raised red flags on Tuesday regarding potential illicit activities through crypto exchanges like Binance. Cardoso specifically pointed to Binance Nigeria, alleging a concerning volume of transactions: $26 billion reportedly moved through the platform in the past year from unidentified sources and users.

Last week, the CBN directed the country's telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, to suspend access to crypto websites like Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. This action came a day after Binance limited peer-to-peer transactions trading the USDT/NGN pair, a move that coincided with the Naira's plunge to record lows.

In November, Binance faced a $4.3 billion penalty after admitting guilt to US criminal charges involving money laundering and sanctions violations.

This is a developing story