Cryptocurrency giant, Binance Holdings Ltd, has denied claims that it has been fined $10 billion by the Nigerian government.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had said during televised interviews that the Nigerian government imposed a $10 billion fine on Binance due to its illegal operations, which contributed hugely to the devaluation of the naira.
In an interview with the BBC on Friday, Onanuga revealed that the fine was part of the attempt to salvage the value of the naira.
Reacting to the purported fine in a chat with Peoples Gazette, a Binance official said the company discussed ways to resolve issues with the Nigerian government but did not discuss any fine.
The official said, “We recently discussed ways to resolve issues with Nigeria, but we did not hear any demand for $10 billion.”
He also clarified that it is not discussing with the Nigerian government either to restore its recently cut-off services or release its executives, who are being held in detention.
The official also stated that the company has no intention of paying fines for personnel or services to the Nigerian government.
“Our aim is to chart a good relationship with the government and the people of Nigeria. We want to see our services restored in Nigeria very soon, but we have no intention of paying fines for personnel or services,” the official said.
Recall that the Nigerian government had reportedly directed mobile networks to prevent access to Binance platforms.
This forced the cryptocurrency exchange giant to remove the naira from its peer-to-peer feature.
Two employees of Binance were also allegedly detained by the office of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, in Abuja as part of an investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange’s operations in Nigeria.