Nigerian authorities detain Binance executives

Two senior executives from the global cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance have been in Nigeria over allegations of “fixing the country’s exchange rate”.

The executives arrived in Nigeria to discuss the suspension of the trading platform with Nigerian authorities. The pair were detained on Wednesday.

Bayo Onanuga, the presidential spokesman, accused the Binance of fixing the country’s exchange rates and assuming the role of the central bank, in an interview with local media on Wednesday.

“If we don’t clamp down on Binance, [it] will destroy the economy of this country. They just fix the rate,” he added.

The country’s Central Bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said that about $26bn (£20bn) had passed through Binance Nigeria in cryptocurrency trades through “sources and users who we cannot adequately identify” on Tuesday.

Binance officials are yet to respond to the claims.

Last December, Nigerian authorities lifted a two-year ban imposed on cryptocurrency transactions over what they described as money laundering and terrorism financing risks posed by cryptocurrency in the country.

This government's clampdown on Binance is among the measures it believes would save the local naira currency, which has depreciated by almost 70% in the last eight months.