Binance is going through some tough times as Nigerian government agencies are after them. On Monday, Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges brought against him by the Nigerian government.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused Binance and Gambaryan of money laundering and foreign exchange manipulation.
The crypto exchange also faces four counts of tax evasion charges filed by the Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS). However, due to the failure of both agencies to contact the crypto exchange before arraignment, the court adjourned both cases last week.
On Monday, Gambaryan appeared before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja Division of the federal high court and pleaded not guilty to all four counts of money laundering.
Also, he appealed to be served without the charges of his escaped colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who fled the country on March 22.
Unfortunately, Justice Emeka Nwite dismissed Gambaryan’s appeal and remanded him in Kuje Correctional Centre, pending his possible bail application on April 18. The cases have been scheduled for trial commencement on May 5.
Public Opinion on the Binance Case
According to many in this case, the Nigerian agencies are simply looking for a way to extort money from the crypto exchange after discovering its annual revenue from the country.
Binance is not a banking institution but a crypto exchange and does not follow the same rules as Banks do. One thing everyone knows about cryptocurrencies is their anonymous style of fund transfers.
This type of transfer uses a unique receiving address for each wallet and does not provide any information about the sender or recipient.
This is the selling point of cryptocurrencies, a means of making transactions without the government’s prying eyes and restrictions that are present in traditional banks today.
Therefore, even if there have been money laundering activities on the platform, the West African country can not hold Binance accountable since they are unaware of the source of funds and the reasons for transactions made on the blockchain network.
This information is strictly between the sender and the receiver. Therefore, if a government manages to label transactions on the blockchain network as money laundering and prosecutes individuals for it, then it undermines the entire purpose of using crypto.
If that’s the case, we might as well go back to using traditional banks. Right now, the Nigerian government is doing what no other country would, as cryptocurrencies do not follow the same rules as country-proprietary currencies.
Binance is treading carefully and is working hard to find a striking balance. However, if the exchange inadvertently reveals its users’ information in the country, it could spell its downfall.
