Binance CEO issues cease and desist to unaffiliated Binance Nigeria Limited

Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao said his exchange had issued a cease and desist notice to an unaffiliated ‘scam’ entity, “Binance Nigeria Limited,” according to a June 18 tweet.

Binance Nigeria Limited declared illegal.

On June 9, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission declared Binance Nigeria Limited’s operation illegal within the country.

The regulator stated that the firm solicited the Nigerian public to trade crypto assets on its web and mobile-enabled platforms. It added:

“Binance Nigeria Limited is neither registered nor regulated by the Commission and its operations in Nigeria are therefore illegal. Any member of the investing public dealing with the entity is doing so at his/her own risk.”

Binance Nigeria Limited

CryptoSlate’s Nigerian Corporate Affairs Limited (CAC) website search revealed that “Binance Nigeria Limited” was registered on December 9, 2019. The firm was registered under CAC number “1639782″ and has a physical address in Mabushi District.

An email address attached to the filing for Binance Nigeria Limited has yet to respond to CryptoSlate’s request for comment as of press time. Additionally, the entity has no social media presence, as searches of its name on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit brought no results.

Meanwhile, local media reported that individuals associated with Binance Nigeria Limited said it was registered for arbitrage purposes and is unaffiliated with the global exchange.  

Binance response

In an email to CryptoSlate, Binance said it does not recognize the entity named in the Nigerian SEC circular.

A spokesperson for the exchange said:

“The entity mentioned in the circular is not affiliated with us. We are therefore seeking clarity from the Nigerian SEC and remain committed to working with them cooperatively on the next steps.”

Earlier in the month, the U.S. SEC sued Binance and Zhao for federal securities law violations and for facilitating trades of security offerings like BNB and BUSD. Since then, the regulator has moved to freeze the assets of its U.S. subsidiary, Binance US, and issued a court summons for CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao.

Meanwhile, Binance said it would defend itself in court against these charges.

Additionally, the firm has faced multiple regulatory issues across several countries, including the Netherlands and Cyprus.

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