Nigeria Drops Charges Against Binance Manager After Eight-Month Detention
Date: 2024-10-24 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: IN WORLD
Gambaryan, a former IRS employee and Binance’s head of financial compliance, was detained along with Nadeem Anjarwalla, the exchange’s regional manager for Africa. They had arrived in Abuja to discuss the charges against the exchange when Nigeria began restricting access to cryptocurrency platforms in a crackdown on currency speculation.
Anjarwalla escaped custody in March after being granted permission to attend a prayer service. Following his escape, Nigerian authorities have requested an international arrest warrant for him through Interpol. Binance has not yet commented on the matter, but sources say they are preparing an official statement.
In early 2024, crypto exchanges, including Binance, came under scrutiny from regulators in Nigeria. The head of the country's Central Bank expressed concern about suspicious transactions through cryptocurrency platforms, which was associated with the deteriorating economic situation and the depreciation of the national currency, the naira. During this period, cryptocurrency platforms became an alternative for exchanging naira for stablecoins, the rate of which differed from the official one. This attracted the attention of the authorities to Binance and other exchanges.
Nigerian authorities claim that Binance processed about $26 billion in illegal transfers. The exchange was required to disclose the data of all local users and their transactions. Otherwise, it faced a fine of up to $10 billion, which is double the amount that the exchange has already paid to the US government in other cases.
In the fall of 2023, US regulators charged Binance with violating sanctions, which led to the exchange paying a fine of $4.3 billion and Changpeng Zhao leaving his post as the head of the company. He was replaced by Richard Teng, who said that the company would fully comply with regulators' requirements.
The charges against Gambaryan were dropped through diplomatic negotiations, as reported by the lawyer of the Nigerian Financial Investigation Commission. However, the investigation into the Binance case continues despite the manager's release.
Despite numerous accusations from regulators around the world, Binance maintains its leadership in the cryptocurrency market. The company's share in the spot trading market is 40%, and in the derivatives market - 42.5%, which significantly exceeds the figures of its closest competitors.
The native token of the BNB exchange has grown by 190% in a year, reaching a historical maximum of $710. On October 23, its price was about $585.
