Two high-ranking officials from Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, will be held in Nigerian custody for at least another two weeks. This comes despite their initial court appearance on Wednesday and the absence of any formal charges against them.
Gambaryan, a US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, and Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan national leading the African region for Binance, travelled to Nigeria after the country banned several cryptocurrency trading platforms. They were detained upon arrival on February 26th.
On Tuesday, both men appeared before a Federal High Court judge in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. While the court and their lawyers remained silent on the matter, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) requested a renewed detention order after the initial one expired on March 12th. The Binance executives contested this request, but the judge has yet to deliver a verdict.
In a statement released by their families, it was confirmed that “the court would resume the session on April 5th” after considering arguments from both sides. The EFCC has not responded to requests for comment on the situation.
The detention appears linked to Nigeria’s recent crackdown on cryptocurrency trading platforms. These platforms have become popular avenues for trading the Nigerian naira amidst the country’s ongoing struggle with a dollar shortage. Binance itself has not responded to queries sent via email, but did announce earlier this month that it would cease all transactions involving the Nigerian naira currency after March 8th.
