The Nigerian government is intensifying its crackdown on Binance, pressing the cryptocurrency exchange to provide information on its top 100 local users and their transaction history over the past six months. Authorities have also instructed Binance to resolve any outstanding tax liabilities, as part of ongoing negotiations between the two parties.

At the heart of this dispute lies Nigeria's assertion that Binance had a detrimental impact on the nation's currency, the naira. Bayo Onanuga, the presidential adviser on information and strategy, accused Binance and other crypto platforms of manipulating the naira, triggering a massive decline in the local fiat currency's value. Onanuga even floated the idea of banning such platforms from operating in the country.

The escalating tensions led Nigerian prosecutors to detain two senior Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, despite Binance's efforts to engage in dialogue with the authorities. The executives remain in custody even after Binance delisted all naira transactions and halted peer-to-peer naira transactions in late February.

Onanuga reportedly stated that Gambaryan and Anjarwalla are cooperating with Nigerian authorities and providing "a lot of information." He also suggested that Nigeria may seek to impose a staggering $10 billion fine as retribution, accusing Binance of having "really messed up" the Nigerian economy.

Meanwhile, the office of Nigeria's national security adviser urged patience, stating, "Let's allow law enforcement agencies space and time to undertake their work. Outcomes will be made public in due course."

Binance declined to comment on the substance of the claims made by Nigerian authorities but clarified to Cointelegraph that the exchange did not exit Nigeria entirely but rather removed all naira trading pairs and transactions.

Some online users questioned Binance's ability to service Nigerian users under such circumstances, with one commenter arguing that removing naira transactions essentially means "dusting their hands off Nigeria and anything concerning Nigeria."

Nigeria has emerged as a rapidly growing crypto economy in recent years, ranking as the second-biggest economy in terms of crypto adoption in 2023. However, the country has faced economic challenges, with record-high inflation reaching nearly 30% in January 2024, according to official data.