It appears that regulatory monitoring would be extended to internal platform information due to an ex-parte move in Nigeria's anti-Binance campaign.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is conducting an investigation into possible money laundering, foreign exchange rate manipulation, and financing of terrorism. A Federal High Court in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, has ordered Binance to provide the EFCC with information on all of its exchange customers.

EFCC agent Hamma Bello stated in a court hearing on March 18 that the team's Special Investigation Team was notified of questionable activities and that the exchange had been asked to stop offering any services linked to trading naira.

As part of the investigation, Nigerian officials first asked for the top 100 local users' transaction histories going back up to six months. But the request was broadened to cover every Nigerian client on the platform, but the scope of trading activity was unspecified.

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Issues with Binance in Nigeria

Almost three weeks after two Binance executives were detained by Nigerian authorities, the Abuja High Court's ruling was made public. The employees in question, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, were taken into custody in the capital city on February 26 after being invited for a discussion by regulatory organisations.

Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of Nigeria's central bank, claimed that over $26 billion in untraceable wealth passed through the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world and that this was a factor in the sharp depreciation of the naira since last year. The information used to arrive at this figure was not cited by Cardoso.

Additionally, the authorities threatened to punish Binance $10 billion for enabling users to convert large amounts of naira for Tether's stablecoin, USDT, so aiding in the manipulation of foreign currency.

In response, Binance highlighted its collaboration with law enforcement organisations such as the Nigerian Police Force, the EFCC, and others since June 2020. With a "proven track record of constructive collaboration," the CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange urged local authorities to continue their partnership with crypto stakeholders.

The drama began after Binance reached a plea agreement to resolve its regulatory disputes with the United States and pay the Department of Justice $4.3 billion in penalties. In addition, creator Changpeng Zhao was forced to give up his job as CEO and submit his Canadian passport while the legal process carried on.