Binance Faces Potential Fine
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is currently under scrutiny in Nigeria. Despite the news, BNB, the native cryptocurrency of Binance, has been trending positively.
Nigerian Government Imposes $10 Billion Fine
Recent reports reveal that the Nigerian government has imposed a hefty fine of $10 billion on Binance. During a BBC interview, Bayo Onanuga, a special assistant to the Nigerian president, disclosed this information, alleging that Binance made profits from illegal transactions.
The president of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also expressed concerns about the volume of illegal funds processed through the exchange, amounting to about $26 billion in the last year.
Continuation of Binance Troubles in Nigeria
This recent announcement follows the detention of two Binance executives by the Nigerian government earlier in the week. This move adds to the ongoing challenges faced by Binance, including a guilty plea and a $4 billion payment in the United States in November.
Former CEO Chanpeng Zhao stepped down after pleading guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program and violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
The Nigerian government’s actions were also influenced by accusations of price-fixing in the NGN/USDT pair and the ongoing devaluation of the country’s currency.
At the time of writing, Nigerian users are unable to access the exchange’s site, and P2P functionality has been disabled on the mobile application.
Impact on BNB Price
Despite the challenges faced by Binance, the price of Binance Coin (BNB) has shown resilience. On March 1st, BNB was trading at about $407, reflecting a value increase of over 2%. This positive movement is notable, considering a previous day decline of around 3.7% that slipped below the $400 mark.
Furthermore, at the time of this writing, BNB continues to reside in the overbought zone, with its Relative Strength Index showing a value above 70.