Binance Nigeria Ltd operates Illegal, says SEC

 

LAGOS, Nigeria – The Security and Exchange Commission, SEC has described the operation of Binance Nigeria Limited as illegal.

In a circular, SEC said it issued the statement  following the decision of Binance to solicit the Nigerian public to trade crypto assets on its various web and mobile enabled platforms.

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

SEC explained that as the regulator with the statutory mandate of investor protection, the Commission urges Nigerians to be wary of investing in crypto-assets, and crypto-asset related financial products and services if the service provider/its platform is not registered or regulated by the Commission.

“Nigerian investors are hereby warned that investing in crypto-assets is extremely risky and may result in total loss of their investment”, SEC said, adding “By this circular, Binance Nigeria Limited is hereby directed to immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever”.

The circular added that the Commission shall provide updates on further regulatory actions with respect to the activities of Binance Nigeria Limited, and other similar platforms and shall work with other regulators in Nigeria to provide further guidance on this matter.