Two senior executives from Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, have been detained in Nigeria since February 26th and their release date is still unknown, according to recent reports. The names of these officials, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, have been made public. They traveled to Nigeria on February 25th after receiving an invitation from the government to discuss allegations involving Binance’s impact on the USD/NGN exchange rate. The Nigerian government had accused Binance of allowing peer-to-peer naira traders to manipulate the exchange rate, leading to the disabling of access to crypto-based websites like Binance. Following a regulatory dispute, Binance disabled the peer-to-peer feature for the currency. After their initial meeting with the government, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were instructed to gather their belongings and were subsequently moved to a government-owned facility in Abuja, referred to as a “guesthouse.” Their passports were confiscated without any explanation of criminal charges. Currently, the Binance officials have access to a television and a balcony at the facility. Gambaryan, a US citizen and head of Binance’s criminal investigation team, has been contacted by a representative from the US State Department. Anjarwalla, the regional manager of Binance Africa and a dual citizen of Kenya and the UK, has been contacted by a UK representative. A spokesperson from Binance did not provide any specific information regarding the release date of these officials. The Nigerian government has also not announced a release date.
