Nigerian Government has requested that Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, provide information on its top 100 users in the country and all transaction history for the past six months.
Gatekeepers News reports that this request comes amid the ongoing detention of two senior executives from Binance, which is now entering its third week.
The two play a significant role in Binance’s Africa operations. Nadeem Anjarwalla, a UK citizen, is a regional manager for Africa at Binance. Tigran Gambaryan, a former US Internal Revenue Service special agent, is head of Binance’s financial crime compliance.
According to a court order seen by the Financial Times, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was permitted to detain both Binance executives for 14 days, a period that ended on Tuesday.
A person familiar with the matter told the FT a hearing on an extension to the court order has been postponed from Tuesday until Wednesday.
“After two weeks we are no closer to understanding why they are being held and how much longer this nightmare will last,” said Elahe Anjarwalla, Nadeem Anjarwalla’s wife.
According to the Nigerian authorities, the exchange is seen as a significant factor undermining their efforts to maintain stability in the national currency, the naira. Of particular importance is the timeframe of the past six months, aligning with Nigeria’s recent currency devaluation.
The Nigerian Government has also requested that Binance resolve any outstanding tax liabilities, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.
The Government has focused its attention on Binance and other cryptocurrency websites as it seeks to head off its worst economic crisis in three decades and restore its citizens’ faith in its battered currency.
