Nigeria has rejected bribery allegations made by Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency alternate, labeling them as a “tactic to divert” consideration from the alternate’s actions.
The assertion is available in response to a weblog put up by Binance’s newly appointed CEO, Richard Teng, who claimed that the Nigerian authorities demanded a $150 million cryptocurrency fee to settle an ongoing felony investigation.
Nigerian Authorities Slams Binance’s Bribery Claims
In keeping with Bloomberg, Nigerian Ministry of Info spokesman Rabiu Ibrahim dismissed Teng’s bribery allegations as baseless and missing substance.
Ibrahim said that the Binance CEO’s declare was a mere diversionary tactic geared toward shifting focus away from the cryptocurrency alternate’s actions. The Nigerian authorities firmly denies involvement in any bribery makes an attempt.
In keeping with Teng’s weblog put up, Binance attended a gathering with Nigerian officers in January, throughout which felony allegations have been raised in opposition to the corporate.
Teng claimed that as Binance workers left the assembly, they have been approached by unknown people who demanded a big cryptocurrency fee inside 48 hours to settle the allegations.
The weblog put up additionally talked about that Gambaryan and his colleague returned to Nigeria in February on the authorities’ invitation however have been subsequently arrested.
Whereas one worker has managed to flee in latest months, Tigran Gambaryan stays in custody. He faces fees of tax evasion, foreign money hypothesis, and cash laundering. His trial is scheduled to begin later this month.
Nigeria Intensifies Scrutiny Of Cryptocurrencies
The Nigerian authorities dismisses Binance’s bribery claims as a part of the corporate’s “orchestrated worldwide marketing campaign” to undermine Nigeria’s repute.
The federal government additionally accuses Binance of resorting to fictional claims and mudslinging media campaigns to clear its identify amidst felony prosecutions in a number of international locations, together with the USA.
It’s price noting that Nigeria has been scrutinizing the function of cryptocurrencies within the depreciation of the native foreign money, the naira. The federal government attributes a part of the foreign money’s decline to overseas alternate management changes and elevated volatility.
To deal with issues, the Securities and Change Fee banned person-to-person cryptocurrency buying and selling within the naira and indicated that new laws can be carried out to control the sector.
Along with the problems in Nigeria, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was lately sentenced to 4 months in jail within the US for failures that allowed cybercriminals and terrorist teams to commerce freely on the platform. The alternate additionally agreed to pay $4.3 billion to resolve allegations raised by US authorities.
Binance has not but responded to the Nigerian authorities’s accusations and denials. It stays to be seen how the alternate will handle the state of affairs or present any additional clarification concerning the allegations.
As of this writing, the alternate’s native token, BNB, is buying and selling at $585, up 4.4% up to now week.
Featured picture from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com