Google News
Binance, the Caymans Island-based world’s largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume, says earlier this week that the four-year-old crypto giant founded by a Changpeng Zhao, has restricted 281 personal accounts at its platform, owners of those have reportedly been Nigerian nationals. Besides, the Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said in a letter dated back to January 29 to the Nigerians that its latest move to deter activities in some personal accounts had been largely aimed at ensuring users’ safety adding that the affected accounts’ trading activities were halted followed by request from international law enforcement agencies. Stressing that Binance has been pushing towards a resolution of all non-law enforcement associated cases in less than two weeks, Zhao says in a statement, “Currently, we have resolved 79 cases and continue to work through others”.
Binance restricts 281 Nigerian accounts
In factually, latest move from Binance came forth just a couple of days after a crypto data analytics provider Chainalysis had been quoted saying that crypto associated money laundering had soared more than a 30 per cent last year compared to a year earlier, while the amount funnelled across borders through crypto assets grossed about a whopping $8 billion.
On top of that, the ban on 291 Nigerian Binance accounts came against backdrop of a maverick upswing in crypto-related trading in the African continent’s largest economy by size, as Nigerian nationals are reportedly turning to crypto assets amid a persistent devaluation of local currency.
Concomitantly, there has been a steep lack of physical dollar in the country as well. Nigerian Naira has lost nearly ten percent against its American counterpart last year, while the currency had shed another 1 per cent to 415.83 Nigerian Naira per Dollar last month.