Nigeria just filed an astronomically large lawsuit against Binance, demanding $81.5 billion. The government demanded $2 billion in back taxes, but the rest is composed of other fines.
Binance will most likely fight the charges, but neither party has publicly commented yet.
Nigeria Takes on Binance Again
Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has had a troubled history with Nigeria. In 2024, the country charged it with tax evasion and claimed that the exchange facilitated illegal currency manipulation. This was only the beginning of the legal battle. Now, Nigeria is opening its legal charges again with an $81.5 billion lawsuit.
Reports suggest that the government blames Binance for inflating Nigeria’s currency. The lawsuit claims that Binance caused the country to suffer $79.5 billion in economic losses.
Shortly after their legal fight began in 2024, the country arrested two Binance executives. Their detention turned into a major international incident, and the Nigerian government only dropped the charges last October. Clearly, the nation’s campaign against Binance isn’t over.
Some of Nigeria’s specific charges against Binance include tax evasion, money laundering, and foreign exchange violations. Even accounting for this expanded list of charges, $81.5 billion in damages seems like an impossibly large number.
While outright ignoring the lawsuit may not be suitable in the long term, Binance isn’t likely to return to Nigeria any time soon. So far, the firm hasn’t publicly commented on these proceedings but reports claim that it is contesting the charges.
Considering that foreign diplomatic pressure factored decisively into the last bout between these entities, Nigeria’s chances do not look good.
Meanwhile, reports earlier this week suggested that the Nigerian government was allegedly in talks with the LIBRA team, trying to create a sketchy meme coin like in the case of Argentina’s Javier Milei. Overall, the country’s crypto scene is far from optimistic.
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