"Who Is Worth $10 Billion?" – Understanding the Binance vs. Nigeria Fiasco
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"Who Is Worth $10 Billion?" – Understanding the Binance vs. Nigeria Fiasco
The escalation of a major blunder.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy: Ahmed Oluwasanjo
Translation: Moni, Odaily Planet Daily
On the last day of February, a news story involving Binance caught the attention of the crypto community—Nigeria, a West African country, demanded $10 billion in compensation from Binance. However, according to the latest developments, the situation appears to have taken a surprising turn. What exactly happened behind the scenes?
Next, Odaily Planet Daily will help you sort through the sequence of events.
Timeline of the Binance vs. Nigeria Incident
On February 28, Reuters reported that two Binance executives were detained in Nigeria. According to sources, after Nigeria decided last week to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites, these executives flew to the country but were detained by Nigeria's Office of the National Security Adviser and had their passports confiscated.
On February 29, multiple local media outlets reported that Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stated that $26 billion worth of untraceable funds flowed through Binance Nigeria last year. Nigeria is currently facing a foreign exchange crisis and is seeking ways to limit capital outflows as its local currency, the naira, hit a record low on Wednesday. Alongside measures such as taxing foreign workers, recent calls to restrict cryptocurrency use in the country have made headlines, including blocking access to certain crypto exchanges—Binance among them.
In fact, Nigeria has been an early adopter of cryptocurrencies. However, due to issues with fund traceability, services offered by some exchanges have caused significant headaches for regulators. Local media outlet Nairametrics reported that the CBN is working with multiple government agencies and police forces to further investigate these financial flows. As early as 2023, Binance and an entity named "Binance Nigeria Limited" were warned by the country’s securities regulator for engaging in "illegal activities."
On March 1, BBC escalated the situation, reporting that Bayo Onanuga, media adviser to Nigeria’s president, demanded Binance pay at least $10 billion in compensation. This demand came amid Nigeria's crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges and the depreciation of its national currency. Onanuga also claimed that if Binance continued unchecked, it could destroy Nigeria’s economy by arbitrarily fixing foreign exchange rates.
On the same day, Binance removed the Nigerian naira from its peer-to-peer (P2P) trading function.
A major twist? Nigeria retracts statement: “Never said Binance fine was $10 billion”
Shortly after multiple media reports claimed Binance would be fined $10 billion in Nigeria, a response from He Yi, co-founder of Binance, circulated in the community, which read: “Who’s worth $10 billion?”
Soon afterward, the situation appeared to reverse dramatically.
According to the latest report from local media Gazettengr, Binance stated last Friday that it has not engaged in any negotiations with the Nigerian government regarding a potential payment of up to $10 billion in fines—a clear contradiction to the BBC report. An unnamed Binance official said:
“We recently discussed solutions with Nigeria, but we haven’t heard any demand for $10 billion.”
Interestingly, Binance seems unwilling to discuss paying large sums to the Nigerian government to restore recently suspended services or secure the release of executives detained over alleged manipulative activities. Instead, the Binance official added:
“Binance aims to build good relations with the Nigerian government and people, and hopes to see services restored in Nigeria soon—but we have no intention of paying fines for personnel or services.”
What followed next shocked many observers.
Bayo Onanuga, media adviser to Nigeria’s president, urgently clarified that his statements to the BBC had been distorted by the British media, and that he never said the company had been notified of a fine or that Nigerian regulators had decided on one. Onanuga explained:
“I said the Nigerian government might impose heavy fines on Binance for what has occurred, but I never said Binance had been informed of a fine, nor did I say the amount was definitely $10 billion. I only said a certain amount might be imposed because nothing has been finalized yet.” (Onanuga repeatedly emphasized the uncertainty of any penalty.)
Notably, while it remains unclear what specific actions Binance took to secure the release of its staff, Onanuga revealed that the detained “Binance employees have cooperated with the Nigerian government by providing information.”
In summary, the claim that “Nigeria will fine Binance $10 billion” was likely a major misunderstanding, amplified by misreporting from the BBC. After all—“Who’s worth $10 billion?”
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