Nigerian Government’s Use of Binance in Policy Blame Game

Tigran Gambaryan, Binance’s Head of Finance and Compliance in the U.S., claims that the Nigerian government shifted blame onto the cryptocurrency exchange to mask the fallout of President Bola Tinubu’s decision to devalue the Naira.

In a detailed post on his official X account titled ‘Some Unknown Facts’, Gambaryan outlined his experiences while detained by the Nigerian authorities in 2024, revealing the challenges he and colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla faced.

He pointed out that while Nigeria accused Binance of manipulating the Naira’s value in the foreign exchange sector, the real cause of the currency’s decline was President Tinubu’s monetary policy choices, which caused the Naira to weaken against the U.S. dollar.

Gambaryan emphasized that it was the policy change in June 2023, which allowed the Naira’s value to float, that led to its depreciation, rather than any actions from Binance.
“They tried to compel us to breach international privacy laws by requesting personal information on all Nigerian users to target supposed opposition figures ‘manipulating’ the Naira’s value,” he remarked.

He added, “The authorities were aware that the Naira’s decline stemmed from Bola Tinubu’s monetary policies, specifically the decoupling of the Naira from the dollar. While I don’t claim the policy was flawed, it was evident that removing government controls would spur significant devaluation. Instead of admitting to this fact, they wrongly implicated Binance.”

Previously, Gambaryan accused Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, of soliciting a bribe for his political endeavors. He also alleged that certain Nigerian lawmakers requested a $150 million bribe.

It is worth noting that Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on February 26, 2024. While Anjarwalla managed to evade detention, Gambaryan remained in custody until he faced charges for financial offenses.

This occurred after Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, expressed concerns about $26 billion allegedly being funneled through Binance without proper traceability.

As a result, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Binance, Gambaryan, and Anjarwalla with five counts of money laundering and financial misconduct. However, after months of legal battles, Nigerian authorities eventually dropped the charges against Gambaryan and Binance. By October 2024, a court ordered Gambaryan’s release.