Nigerian SEC Clarifies Warning against Binance, Labels It 'Illegal'

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reiterated its warning against Binance, the largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume, highlighting that the platform has been “soliciting Nigerian public to trade crypto assets.”

Binance Is Illegal in Nigeria

The latest announcement made last Friday was released after the Nigerian financial market regulator initially flagged Binance Nigeria Ltd on June 9, 2023. However, Binance said that the flagged firm was not affiliated with it and even sent a cease-and-desist notice to it.

Binance have issued cease & desist notice to the scammer entity "Binance Nigeria Limited".Don't believe everything you read in the news. 🤷‍♂️

In the recent warning, the Nigerian regulator specifically mentioned Binance’s website and said that it is in “furtherance of the Commission’s earlier circular.”

“The Commission again reiterates that the activities of Binance, https://www.binance.com, and any such other platform through which the Company solicits investors is neither registered nor regulated by the Commission, and its operations in Nigeria are, therefore, illegal. Any member of the investing public dealing with the entity, making such solicitation is doing so at his/her own risk,” the regulatory warning stated.

Further, the Nigerian financial market regulator extended the warning to include “all [crypto] platform providers” in the country and ordered them to “immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever.” The regulator warned against the high risks of crypto investments.

“As the regulator with the statutory mandate of investor protection, the Commission hereby warns the public that investing in crypto-assets have a high level of risk and may result in total loss of investments,” the regulator added. “The Commission, therefore, urges the investing public to be wary of investing in crypto-assets and other products offered or operated by entities not registered or regulated by the Commission.”

Binance’s Unending Worries

Binance has been facing a fresh wave of regulatory backlash globally. The exchange and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, face two civil lawsuits covering several serious charges in the US. The situation is different in Europe, as the exchange is facing trouble for obtaining licenses: it failed to get regulatory authorization in the Netherlands and Germany, while it deregistered its entities in Cyprus and the UK. In Australia, the exchange’s derivatives operation was shuttered and is now under regulatory scrutiny.

However, the crypto exchange leader is expanding in some markets. Recently, it obtained a license in Dubai and is geared to launch Binance Japan in August following some delays.