On Monday, a court in Abuja directed Binance Holdings Limited, a cryptocurrency exchange, to share “detailed records of all Nigerian users” with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). This decision followed the EFCC’s request, lodged through an ex parte motion, seeking data on Nigerians who trade on Binance, and Nigerians Transacting On Binance To Be Tracked By EFCC. The legal action, identified as “FHC/ABJ/CS/259/2024” and initiated on February 29, is anchored on provisions from the Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Act, 2004, and the Money Laundering Act, 2022.
An EFCC investigator named Hamma Bello disclosed that their Special Investigation Team, located within the National Security Adviser’s office, detected that Binance’s platform was being used for “money laundering and terrorism financing.” Upon uncovering this intelligence, the team embarked on “surveillance of the activities of the platform,” uncovering manipulative practices by some users that negatively impacted the market and depreciated the Nigerian currency’s value.
The EFCC engaged with Binance, highlighting the “damage” caused and requesting the delisting of the Nigerian currency along with details about Nigerian traders. Binance’s records showed a staggering “$21.6bn” in trading volume from Nigeria for the year 2023 alone, according to Bello. Nigerians Transacting On Binance To Be Tracked By EFCC.
This data is deemed essential for the EFCC to “complete its investigation.” Justice Emeka Nwite, in his ruling on February 29, which was later made public, stated, “The applicant’s application dated and filed 29th February 2024, is hereby granted as prayed.” He ordered Binance to supply the EFCC with the requested “comprehensive data/information relating to all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform.”
Binance serves as a digital marketplace for trading cryptocurrencies. Following a significant revelation by Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, it was disclosed at a press briefing after the 293rd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja in February that over “$26bn was channeled through Binance without traces” in the previous year. This disclosure came shortly before the arrest of two Binance executives who entered Nigeria, spurred by a ban on their website, on February 28.