The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered Binance Holdings Limited to release to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, a comprehensive detail of all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform.
Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that lists more than 350 digital currencies, which serve as alternative forms of payment, using encryption algorithms. The government had earlier asked Binance for information on its top 100 users in the country, as well as all transaction history for the past six months.
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, had on February 27, disclosed that about $26 billion passed through Binance from unidentified sources.
In an abrupt move on March 8, the crypto firm discontinued all transactions in naira on its exchange platform, following reports that the government demanded $10bn as retribution for profiting from “its illegal transactions” in Nigeria.
However, in an ex-parte motion it filed before the court, the EFCC said it would need detailed data of Binance users in the country to aid its ongoing investigation on issues relating to money laundering and terrorism financing.
“The ex-parte motion, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2024, was filed according to Sections 6(b), (h), (I), 7(1), (a) (2), and 38 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Act, 2004 and Section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (as amended) and the inherent powers of the court.
