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Crypto Company, Binance Operations Illegal, Not Registered; Trade At Your Own Risk – Regulator, SEC Warns Nigerians

Crypto Company, Binance Operations Illegal, Not Registered; Trade At Your Own Risk – Regulator, SEC Warns Nigerians
June 10, 2023

The Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street’s primary regulator, alleges the company acted in “blatant disregard” of US securities laws. It also named Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, as a defendant.

The activities of crypto exchange company, Binance in Nigeria have been declared illegal by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria.

Federal regulators in the United States had sued Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, accusing the company of running an illegal exchange in the US and raking in billions of dollars’ worth of customer funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street’s primary regulator, alleges the company acted in “blatant disregard” of US securities laws. It also named Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, as a defendant.

“Through 13 charges, we allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a statement Monday.

However, in a statement published on its website, Nigeria's SEC noted that any Nigerian trading on Binance Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of the well-known global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was doing so at his or her own risk.

SEC that issued the warning after Nigeria passed a 10% tax on digital assets in its new Finance Act for the year 2023, said the company’s activities are in violation of Nigerian law urging Nigerians to exercise caution when dealing with unregistered and unregulated platforms such as Binance Nigeria.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) has been drawn to the website operated by Binance Nigeria Limited, soliciting the Nigerian public to trade crypto assets on its various web and mobile-enabled platforms.

“Binance Nigeria Limited is neither registered nor regulated by the Commission and its operations in Nigeria are therefore illegal. Any member of the investing public dealing with the entity is doing so at his/her own risk.

“As the regulator with the statutory mandate of investor protection, the Commission urges Nigerians to be wary of investing in crypto-assets, and crypto-asset related financial products and services if the service provider/its platform is not registered or regulated by the Commission. Nigerian investors are hereby warned that investing in crypto-assets is extremely risky and may result in total loss of their investment.

“By this circular, Binance Nigeria Limited is hereby directed to immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever.

“The Commission shall provide updates on further regulatory actions with respect to the activities of Binance Nigeria Limited, and other similar platforms and shall work with other regulators in Nigeria to provide further guidance on this matter.”