9 months ago
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The President of the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria, Obinna Iwuno, has disclosed that traders on cryptocurrency trading platform, Binance are not anonymous, adding they can be traced.
Iwuno, a trained crypto investigator, revealed this as a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast show, The Morning Brief, on Tuesday.
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has disclosed that more than $26bn was channelled through a cryptocurrency platform, Binance, in the last one year.
Cardoso disclosed this last week at a press briefing after the 293rd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja.
The Binance exchange is a leading cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2017.
It features a strong focus on altcoin trading.
Binance offers crypto-to-crypto trading in more than 350 cryptocurrencies and virtual tokens, including bitcoin, ether, litecoin, dogecoin, and its own coin, BNB.
In a reaction to Cardoso’s claim that $26bn suspicious flows passed through Binance last year, Iwuno said, “The CBN governor said $26bn is unidentified but what he has not told us is how they arrived at the $26bn because that is the only basis that I will fault or right the CBN.
“I am a certified cryptocurrency investigator. I am also a certified cryptocurrency compliance specialist. I can tell you that these things are traceable. You cannot perform a transaction, as long as it passes through the blockchain, that cannot be traced.
“If you use a centralised exchange like Binance, it is finished because you cannot be on those platform without your identity being known.”
He said most crypto platforms use Bank Verification Number and driver’s licence as know-your-customer verification measures.
He insisted that there was no way a trader would be on Binance and could not be traced, adding that Interpol and other security agencies had in the past cracked down on bad actors in the blockchain technology value chain.
The trained crypto investigator also said the Federal Government has failed to regulate virtual asset services in the country, hence, there is no regulation that bind Binance to Nigeria, which has one of the company’s biggest traders.
“Binance is not licensed to operate in Nigeria. Nigeria did not regulate virtual asset services and providers and this is what we have been calling for, for years. Because of that, there is no regulation that made them binding to us. If there was regulation in the country, Binance will be a member of SiBAN,” he said.
Iwuno noted that his association has been against bad eggs in the industry and had come up with many initiatives to stifle those with sharp practices.
Two Binance executives were arrested in Nigeria last week and the government has demanded about $10bn compensation from the cryptocurrency platform on allegations of manipulation of foreign exchange rates which has negatively affected the value of the naira against the dollar.
