Binance is facing legal troubles in Nigeria a few days after the US SEC took legal action against the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the warning on Friday (June 9) stating that Binance is operating illegally in the West African country.
In a dedicated announcement, the Nigerian SEC claimed that “Binance Nigeria Limited is neither registered nor regulated by the Commission and its operations in Nigeria are therefore illegal.”
Therefore, the regulator ordered Binance Nigeria Limited “to immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever.”
In addition, the commission urged Nigerians to refrain from investing in crypto assets or crypto-related financial projects that aren’t registered or regulated by the government. Those who chose to invest in crypto and deal with unregistered entities such as Binance despite the warnings, are “doing so at his/her own risk.”
The move came four days after the regulator’s American counterpart sued the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange on thirteen various charges including “manipulative trading” practices and “multiple unregistered offers and sales of crypto asset securities and other investment schemes,” alleging that the entity intentionally and blatantly violated a range of securities laws, earning billions of dollars while “placing investors’ assets at significant risk”.
Moreover, the US SEC tried to freeze Binance.US assets, which the crypto exchange assured would not directly impact its customers’ ability to withdraw their funds from the platform though.
Both Binance and another crypto company sued by SEC – Coinbase — contend that cryptocurrencies are not securities and thus not subject to SEC rules. Meanwhile, crypto lawyers suggest that the long-awaited decision on the SEC vs Ripple Case will have a tremendous impact on the further legal treatment of crypto assets. Expected to come soon, the judgement will set a legal precedent for both Binance and Coinbase cases, though it won’t have a binding character.
