Binance Not Responsible For Naira Decline- CEO Knocks Tinubu
Cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance, has slammed President Bola Tinubu for alleging that it was responsible for the fall of the Naira.
The Chief Executive Officer of Binance, Richard Teng, made this assertion on Tuesday.
Recall that, in March 2024, the Federal Government hit the platform with a hefty fine of $10 billion.
The governement claimed that the platform was behind the decline in the country’s currency.
The Special Adviser to President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had disclosed that the fine was owing to the fact that Binance allegedly ran illegal operations that caused the freefall of the Naira.
“The platform fixes the exchange rate for the country and it is an illegal rate. The CBN is the only authority that can fix the exchange rate for the country.
“Binance platform harbours people who fix the exchange rate which quickly affects the Nigerian economy for the time when Nigeria is trying to stabilize the economy,” Onanuga held.
Teng has now countered FG’s claims and challenged it to produce evidence to that effect.
He stressed that the reason behind the freefall of the currency was due to the unpegging of the Naira currency back in June 2023.
Teng pointed out that, even after Binance stopped its peer-to-peer services in Nigeria in February 2024, the Naira continued its freefall.
“To everyone paying attention, this is not backed up by facts. Between 2021 and the end of 2022, the Naira traded between a relatively narrow range of USD1: 380 to USD1: 440.
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“We have been offering P2P services as a value-added service for our users wishing to get exposure to crypto during that period of time.
“The end of the Naira’s currency peg by the Government in June 2023 caused the biggest fall in Naira’s history according to experts.
“It went from USD1: 460 in June 2023 to USD1: 900 by the end of 2023. The downward trend continued since.
“The Naira traded at a recent low of USD1: 1,660 on 31 July 2024, representing a 50% decline from the start of 2024.
“This downward trend continued despite Binance ceasing to offer P2P services in the country in February 2024,” Teng stated.
