Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao made an official announcement that the exchange has issued a cease and desist notice to the fraudulent entity called Binance Nigeria Limited. Zhao revealed this information on Twitter.
Reports state that a spokesperson from the exchange responded, stating that the entity mentioned in the circular has no affiliation with the company. The spokesperson also mentioned that the exchange intends to seek clarification from the Nigerian SEC and emphasized their commitment to cooperate with them regarding the next steps.
Recently, the Nigerian SEC declared Binance Nigeria Limited as an illegal entity, prohibiting it from conducting any business in the African nation. The local authority published a circular, stating that the scam entity operates without regulation, leaving investments made on their platform without legal protection.
This news arrived at an unfavorable time for the firm, coinciding with the U.S. authorities taking the exchange’s US branch to court over charges such as being an unregistered broker-dealer, exchange, clearing agency, and misrepresenting trading controls.
Binance Facing Multiple Cases With SEC
Despite denying any affiliation with Binance Nigeria Limited, as mentioned in the SEC’s circular, the exchange is currently facing a lawsuit from the United States Securities Exchange Commission. The exchange and Zhao have been charged with 13 counts by the U.S. SEC.
These charges include operating as an unregistered exchange, broker-dealer, and clearing agency, as well as misrepresenting trading controls. The U.S. SEC has accused the exchange and Zhao of not registering as an exchange, broker-dealer, or clearing agency, despite earning $11.6 billion from U.S. customers.
In a recent development on June 17, U.S. Judge Amy Berman Jackson approved an agreement between the exchange’s US branch and the U.S. SEC. As a result, the previous temporary restraining order that sought to freeze all Binance.US assets has been dismissed.
