Nigeria is ratcheting up pressure on Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, as authorities grill two detained executives for information on the platform's top users in the country.

Financial Times reported on Feb. 26 that Nigerian security forces had detained two Binance officials that flew into the country to negotiate with stakeholders. The two flew to Abuja last month to resolve an ongoing ban on Binance's website, which Nigeria imposed in February, accusing the exchange of enabling $26 billion in untraceable remittances and a P2P market that fueled the naira’s freefall. A Wired report yesterday identified the employees as Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance's Africa regional manager, and Tigran Gambaryan, a former U.S. federal agent.

Nigerian authorities are demanding Gambaryan and Anjarwalla hand over data on Binance's top 100 users based in the country, as well as detailed transaction history covering the past six months. Officials are also seeking unpaid taxes they claim Binance owes and have stripped the executives' passports, effectively holding them hostage without filing formal charges.

Relatives of the detained men are calling on the U.S. government to negotiate their release from the office of Nigeria's National Security Adviser, where they remain in custody after being moved to a detention facility in Abuja. Anjarwalla, a muslim, is being held during Ramadan.

The escalating crackdown comes as Nigeria seeks to curb the proliferation of crypto trading that officials claim enabled an unofficial parallel market rate for the naira. NODO has argued separately why pinning the currency crises on cryptocurrency falls short.

After lifting a ban on crypto transactions by banks last December, regulators swiftly moved to block access to exchanges like Binance, Kraken and Coinbase, accusing them of contributing to the naira's woes.

The actions sparked backlash from Nigeria's crypto community and industry advocates who warned heavy-handed enforcement could backfire by driving legitimate players underground. Meanwhile, a coalition of local exchange founders also pushed for Binance sanctions.

Binance denied wrongdoing and halted naira trading against Bitcoin and stablecoins on its exchange amid the standoff. A court order was expected Tuesday on whether to extend the detention of Gambaryan and Anjarwalla.

Nigeria's simultaneous embrace and crackdown on digital assets underscores the global struggle to police crypto's financial risks in the face of weakening fiat value. The demand for user data from Binance's detained executives could signal appetite for taking a tougher "follow the money" approach to crypto oversight. Even major exchanges may face escalating pressure to comply with data-sharing and tax mandates as mass adoption accelerates.