The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday concluded its testimony against the Binance cryptocurrency platform, maintaining that it carried out “hidden operations” in Nigeria without authorization.
Dr. Olubukola Akinwunmi, Head of the Payment Policy and Regulation Division at the CBN, concluded his testimony before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday.
The criminal trial was commenced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2024.
Naijaonpoint reports that the EFCC accused Binance and its past executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, of allegedly conspiring among themselves to conceal the origin of the financial proceeds of their alleged unlawful activities in Nigeria, including $35,400,000.
Nigerian authorities allege that they committed an offence contrary to Section 21(a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Binance denies the allegations.
At the resumed cross-examination led by Binance’s lawyer, Tonye Krukrubo (SAN), Akinwunmi said he was aware that Binance, at the time of his review, was available, marketed to Nigerians, and accessible in Nigeria.
He was then asked to confirm whether cryptocurrency is a relatively new area of development in the digital space.
The CBN official maintained that, based on his knowledge of Binance’s activities and those of its users, “their usage of the Nigerian banking system was hidden by the use of pseudonyms by users of the platform.”
He also declined to speak on whether Binance deliberately intended to hide its activities.
The CBN official added that he might be unable to specify whether any order exists at the time, issued by the Minister of Finance and published in the official gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, designating cryptocurrency as foreign exchange.
After his evidence, the court discharged Akinwunmi from NAIJAONPOINT box and fixed May 15 for the continuation of the trial.
In early 2024, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA) classified cryptocurrency trading as a national security issue.
Following this, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed four fintech startups operating in the country—OPay, Moniepoint, Paga, and PalmPay to block the accounts of customers engaging in cryptocurrency transactions and report such activities to law enforcement agencies.
Earlier in February 2024, Binance disabled its peer-to-peer feature for Nigerian users after coming under scrutiny from the Nigerian government over allegations of currency manipulation and money laundering.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), during a virtual meeting with the Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria, called for new cryptocurrency measures aimed at removing the naira as a currency pair from peer-to-peer platforms.
On February 28, 2024, Nigerian authorities detained two senior Binance executives: Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old American and head of financial crime compliance at Binance.
Anjarwalla fled the country while Gambaryan was released on health grounds after weeks of diplomatic engagements between the United States and Nigeria.
Amid the trial, a director from the SEC told the court that the Binance platform had become a reference point for determining Nigeria’s exchange rate at the time.
A report on the settlement has been fixed for May 12, 2026.
