The federal government has asserted that cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, had a turnover of over $20 billion in Nigeria in 2023.
Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, made this known in a statement by his spokesperson, Rabiu Ibrahim.
The minister, who was reacting to claims that the executive of the crypto platform was being held illegally in the country, pointed out that the turnover made by the company, which is more than Nigeria’s budget for education and health, was not taxed by the government.
Noting that the legal actions against the company were not peculiar to Nigeria, he said Binance has faced legal action and penalties in North America, Europe, and Asia, with some of its representatives being imprisoned, fined, sanctioned, or banned in recent years.
The minister said the activities of Binance, which is not registered in Nigeria and has never paid any tax within the Nigerian jurisdiction, and have operated without oversight or any of the normal guard rails to flag criminal activity, had fuelled currency speculation and the cost-of-living crisis.
Idris said it is important that Binance is prefaced as an entity whose representatives have been variously imprisoned, fined, sanctioned, and banned in North America, Europe, and Asia, in recent years.
In a letter dated June 4 to president Joe Biden, 16 congressmen in the United States, led by Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul, accused Nigeria of holding Binance Holdings Ltd. Executive Tigran Gambaryan “hostage,” and requested that Biden move for the case of Gambaryan to be referred to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
