The Central Bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso has stated that about $26 billion has passed through Binance Nigeria.
He took this question in response to the activities of cryptocurrency platforms like Binance especially how the apex bank thought about balancing currency manipulation and not stifling innovation.
In response, Cardoso said that because the CBN has a responsibility to protect Nigerians, (and numerous investors) it has been collaborating with other arms of the government to confirm some of their fears.
According to him “We are concerned that certain practices go on that indicate illicit flows going through a number of these entities and suspicious flows at best. In the case of Binance, in the last one year alone, $26 billion has passed through Binance Nigeria from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify”
Cardoso also stated that a lot is going on among agencies such as EFCC, the Police, and the office of the NSA to address the issue stating that in due course they will have more information to share.
He also stated that they are “determined” to do anything it takes to take charge of their market and not allow others to “manipulate our market in a way that ends up distortionary and sub-optimizes for all Nigerians”, which he said will not be accepted.
He also stated that they will do their best to ensure the “infractions” do not take place.
What you should know
Central Bank officials had fingered the Binance Platform as a major tool for speculating against the naira and promised to clamp down on its usage.
In response, Binance stated that it has taken some actions to adjust trading on its platform by Nigerians to address what it described as an unusual currency movement.
While many Nigerians have been complaining of facing restrictions with buying and selling USDT on the platform since Tuesday, Binance said its action was “to protect users and prevent any abuse.”
The company also distances itself from the forex debacle in Nigeria saying its platform is “market-driven and not intended to be a proxy for currency pricing in Nigeria.”
Credit: Nairametrics
