Binance, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, has stated that it has limited the personal accounts of 281 Nigerian customers in order to comply with international money laundering rules.
Binance has recently been accused by some Nigerians of hindering access into their account.
Many cryptocurrency traders took to Twitter on Wednesday to express their dissatisfaction with what they characterized as fraudulent actions on their Binance wallets.
Some platform users, particularly Nigerians and other Africans, claimed that they were denied access to their wallets (accounts) for no apparent reason. Some have claimed that they have seen significant abnormalities in their wallet, causing them to lose a significant portion of their investment due to the current drop in cryptocurrency values.
In a message to Nigerian customers on Saturday, Changpeng Zhao, the company’s CEO, stated that the decision to block some personal accounts was made to guarantee user safety, whereas more than a third of the affected accounts were blocked at the demand of international law enforcement.
The tech giants said in a statement published on their website, “Protection mechanisms such as know your customer, anti-money laundering measures, collaboration with law enforcement, and account restrictions are in place to ensure our community remains protected.”
“Some 281 Nigerian accounts have been affected by these personal account restrictions, with approximately 38% of these cases restricted at the request of international law enforcement.
“Currently, we have resolved 79 cases and continue to work through others. All non-law enforcement-related cases will be resolved within two weeks.”
Last year, Nigeria’s central bank requested that banks refrain from transacting with cryptocurrency exchanges and that digital currency merchants close their accounts.
Despite this, Nigerians continue to use virtual currencies to protect themselves against inflation and the naira’s decline, as well as to send and receive money abroad. According to a Statista survey, people in the country have the largest share of such assets per capita in the world.
