Nigerian SEC Issues Warning to Binance
• The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned investors that the operations of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, are considered illegal in Nigeria.
• The warning follows a potential mistake by the regulator in June, where they mistakenly identified and banned a domain squatter believing it to be affiliated with the international exchange.
• In its statement, the SEC cautioned against Binance soliciting customers from Nigeria and stated it would work with other regulators in providing further guidance on this matter.
Regulatory Troubles
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has recently been facing increased regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions. Following lawsuits from U.S. regulators and challenges in Europe, Binance now finds itself on the wrong side of Nigerian regulators too.
Domain Squatter Mistake
In June this year, the Nigerian SEC released a circular banning ‘Binance Nigeria Limited’ claiming that it was offering crypto trading via its website and mobile applications. This sparked speculation that the regulator had banned Binance itself but in actuality it was a domain squatter hoping to sell their business name to Binance.
SEC’s Warning
The SEC issued another warning on Friday, July 27th stating that as Binance is not regulated entity within Nigeria any operations within the country were considered illegal and cautioned against soliciting customers from West African state. The regulator also added that it shall continue working with other authorities to provide guidance on this matter moving forward.
Conclusion
Binace’s troubles with regulators globally continues to increase despite their best efforts at avoiding them thus far. It remains to be seen how they handle this situation with Nigerian authorities as well as what other global regulatory bodies have in store for them next.
