by Cynthia Ezirim 
The office of Nigeria’s national security adviser also wants Binance to resolve any outstanding tax liabilities.
The Nigerian government has asked Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, to provide data on its transaction history for the last six months and information on its top 100 users in the country as the fiasco between the two entities drags on.
According to a Financial Times report, the information request is the heart of negotiations between Nigeria and Binance following the country’s detention of the crypto exchange’s two senior executives for over two weeks.
Nigeria Wants Binance User Data
As reported last week, Binance discontinued all transactions involving the Nigerian naira (NGN) on March 8 after delisting the currency from its peer-to-peer service in late February. The discontinuation also saw the removal of NGN from the list of supported payment options on Binance Pay.
The events unfolded as the Nigerian government blamed Binance for contributing to the country’s economic crisis and accelerating the devaluation of NGN. Local authorities claimed the crypto trading platform fixed an illegal foreign exchange rate for its currency and demanded $10 billion in damages.
While Binance engaged in talks to resolve the country’s claims, the government detained two executives who had flown in for the discussions. United Kingdom citizen Nadeem Anjarwalla, a regional manager for Binance Africa, and former United States Internal Revenue Service special agent Tigran Gambaryan, head of Binance’s financial crime compliance, have been detained since February 26 at a guest house adjacent to the national security adviser’s office in the country’s capital city, Abuja, with their devices seized.
People familiar with the matter said the duo is cooperating with Nigerian authorities, who believe the period under review in the requested information corresponds with the timeline of the naira’s depreciation.
Nigeria Seeks to Extend Exec Detention
Furthermore, the office of Nigeria’s national security adviser also wants Binance to resolve any outstanding tax liabilities.
It is worth noting that Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission obtained a court order permitting the detention of the Binance executives for 14 days ending Tuesday, March 12. A hearing to extend the court order for ongoing discussions has been scheduled for March 13.
Meanwhile, complaints laid by Anjarwalla’s wife to the British government over her husband’s detention have been met with little to no action. The British Foreign Office said they are drafting an information request to Nigeria to remedy the situation.
