Nigeria Denies Targeting Binance, Says Crypto Firms Operate Freely

The Nigerian Federal Government denies an allegation of bringing a targeted lawsuit against Binance while affirming its support for and accommodation of cryptocurrency, citing the smooth operation enjoyed by other exchanges.

According to a local report, the Nigerian Federal Government, through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the lawsuit against Binance is not a witch-hunt but rather a step to further strengthen and regulate the crypto industries in Nigeria.

The Minister added that allowing exchanges to operate and transact a large amount of assets without a defined regulation doesn’t speak well of Nigeria as a reputable country.

🛑 NEW: The Nigerian government has stated it remains open to cryptocurrency businesses despite filing an $80 billion lawsuit against Binance over alleged economic losses and tax evasion.

Officials emphasize that crypto regulation is still evolving, and Nigeria aims to create a… pic.twitter.com/8FSAB5AIr1

— Coinwaft (@coinwaft) March 25, 2025

While commenting on the Government’s position against Binance, he cited the uninterrupted operation of other foreign crypto firms in Nigeria.

He argued that, not only in Nigeria but globally, the crypto space needs to uphold already-spelled-out regulations to ensure that digital assets do not facilitate money laundering, terrorism, and tax evasion.

“It is not just Nigeria. Internationally, it’s also important to address illicit financial flows. You can’t have a huge amount of transactions that do not meet the operations of financial dealers,”

Idris said.

Nigerian Government Sues Binance for $81.5B, Citing Economic Damages

On February 19, 2025, news surfaced that the Federal Government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to direct Binance to pay the Government $79.5 billion in damages and $2 billion in unpaid taxes and interest. This includes a 10% annual penalty for defaulting and 26.75% interest on unpaid taxes.

Before this current lawsuit, the Government had dropped its money laundering charges against Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen, and Binance. The court ruled for Tigran’s release.

🚨🇳🇬 BREAKING: Nigeria has officially dropped all money laundering charges against #Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, concluding a six-month trial.

– Announced on October 23, 2024, by a during a session at the Federal High Court in Abuja. pic.twitter.com/fzMESEkKme

— Coinwaft (@coinwaft) October 23, 2024

Nigeria said Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was involved in an unregulated fixing of peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange rates that contributed to the steep and rapid fall of the country’s local currency, the Naira.

However, as reported by Coinwaft, Mr Tigran Gambaryan denied the allegations leveled against him and Binance and branded them misrepresentations. He also accused some Nigerian officials of soliciting bribes in exchange for his soothing treatment.

Some Unknown Facts- you can read the rest in the Wired article and the NPR story.

The DSS was involved in the House of Representatives matter. We met with them at their office on Friday, January 5, 2024, as a prerequisite to our meeting with the House of Representatives. They…

— Tigran Gambaryan (@TigranGambaryan) February 14, 2025

US and Other Countries Set Regulations for Cryptocurrency

The European Union was the first to adopt a measure to control the actions of crypto exchanges. 

Despite the current administration’s pro-crypto approaches, the United States has been passing laws to define how cryptocurrencies, even stablecoins, should be handled.

In 2023, during President Joe Biden’s administration, Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering and unlicensed money transmitting and agreed to pay a $4 billion fine.

South Korea has also clamped down on some exchanges operating in the country without being registered as virtual asset service providers (VASPs). 

Pakistan was also reported to be gearing up for a regulated crypto and blockchain environment to attract more investors.