Nigeria Hits Binance With $81.5 Billion Lawsuit Over Currency Crash

Authorities claim the crypto exchange contributed to the country’s economic struggles and failed to pay required taxes, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters on February 19.

The government is demanding $79.5 billion in compensation for what it describes as Binance’s role in destabilizing the national currency, the naira. An additional $2 billion is being sought for unpaid taxes.

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Officials argue that Binance has operated in Nigeria without proper authorization since at least 2019, which allows people to trade their naira for cryptocurrencies like stablecoins.

Nigeria’s financial troubles have worsened in recent years, with the naira losing over 70% of its value against the US dollar since 2023, according to Markets Forces Africa. Inflation has also surged, reaching 24.48% in January, based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Government officials blame platforms like Binance for accelerating the naira’s decline and weakening trust in the financial system.

In response to regulatory pressure, Binance halted all naira-related trading in 2024 as Nigerian authorities intensified their measures on the crypto industry. Officials claim that digital asset exchanges have encouraged illegal financial activities and contributed to the country’s economic instability.

On January 27, the crypto exchange KuCoin $710.05M settled US charges with a $300 million deal. What happened? Read the full story.