Binance Freezes Accounts in Nigeria Over Anti-Money Laundering Concerns

One of the largest crypto exchanges Binance (BNB) was back in the news over the weekend.

In recent months, the Binance exchange has had plenty of interaction with regulators in key jurisdictions. More significantly, Binance has also been actively ramping up its compliance division to face off with regulators.

Strategic Hires to Tackle Increased Regulatory Scrutiny

Recent key hires seem timely considering the current regulatory environment. Key strategic hires have included:

• August 2021: Binance hires former U.S Federal Law Enforcement Investigator Greg Monahan as global money laundering reporting officer.
• September 2021: Former IRS-CI Special Agent Tigran Gambaryan joins the Binance Global Intelligence and Investigations division.
• October 2021: Binance hires Former Dubai Financial Services Authority Director McGuinness as Chief Regulatory Liaison Officer the following month.
• Early January: Binance (BNB) announces new appointments in Russia and Ukraine. According to the announcement, “the new CEOs, with their proven track record, will certainly have a positive impact on Binance’s growing presence in Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe”.

In a late November blog, Binance called for a global regulatory frameworks for crypto markets. The blog coincided with calls from the Bank of England for a global crypto regulatory framework. Strategic hires should give Binance greater success at navigating through the regulatory quagmire that currently plagues the crypto market.

Binance Freezes Personal Accounts in Nigeria

On Sunday, news hit the wires of Binance freezing the personal accounts of as many as 281 users in Nigeria. According to the report, the freezing of accounts was in compliance with “international money laundering laws”.

According to a letter from Binance CEO CZ,

• In the interest of user safety, KYC, AML, law enforcement collaboration, and account restrictions are in place to protect users from fraudulent activity.
• Around 281 Nigerian accounts are affected by these restrictions. Approximately 38% of the accounts have come at the request of international law enforcement.
• Binance has resolved 79 cases, with all non-law enforcement-related cases to be resolved within 2-weeks.
• The platform will also dedicate more customer service personal to the regional.

Binance Coin (BNB) Price Action

At the time of writing, Binance Coin was down by 1.88% to $370. Having recovered from last Monday’s current month low $337, a move back through to $500 levels would support a run at December’s high $650. Market sentiment towards will need to materially improve, however, for Binance Coin to breakdown resistance at $400.