Nigerian Binance Users Transact with Fictitious Names, Reveals CBN Director in court

Samuel Mobolaji

Deputy Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olubukola Akinwumi, has revealed in court how Nigerians trading on Binance Holdings Limited’s platform use false names for transactions.

Mr Akinwumi, who is also the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s second prosecution witness, testified during the ongoing trial of Binance and its executive, Mr Tigran Gambaryan.

The EFCC has filed a five-count charge against Binance and Mr Gambaryan, accusing them of money laundering involving $35.4 million and suspecting the company of terrorism financing. The trial is being presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Led in evidence by EFCC’s lawyer, Mr Ekele Iheanacho, Deputy Director, Mr Akinwumi, who heads the Payment Policy and Regulation Division in the Payments System Management Department of CBN, stated that the apex bank had not issued any license to the cryptocurrency firm to operate in Nigeria.

“In our operations, we monitor developments within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), payment service providers, and the usage of the payment system. We observed that Binance provides a trading platform where users trade virtual assets. These traders use pseudonyms to hide their identities, which are not authorized by the CBN,” Mr. Akinwumi explained.

He described virtual assets as “digital representations of value created by a computer system, which can be digitally traded, transferred, or used in payments.”

Mr Akinwumi detailed how users of the Binance platform make and receive payments or transfer payments to one another to complete transactions on the Binance peer-to-peer (P2P) platform.

He explained that Binance facilitates these transactions by providing a trading marketplace for virtual assets, electronic wallets, fiat wallets, and exchange rate publishing.

When asked about Binance’s activities, Mr Akinwumi said they are conducted through its website (binance.com) and mobile apps, which include Binance Pro and Binance Lite.

He further explained that the P2P service allows users to trade directly with each other without intermediaries, by agreeing on rates for buying or selling virtual assets.

“Once an agreement is reached, the buyer transfers the agreed amount to the seller’s bank account or naira wallet provided by the Binance platform. The Binance platform then confirms the transfer and releases the cryptocurrency or fiat currency,” he said.

Certified true copies of documents from Binance, available to the SEC and the National Security Adviser’s investigating team, were tendered as Exhibits 8 and 9. Mr Akinwumi was asked to elaborate on these documents, which introduced Binance as the world’s leading crypto exchange with users in over 190 countries and detailed its services and educational initiatives.

He highlighted that depositing and withdrawing Naira (NGN) is a regulated activity managed by banks and financial institutions registered with the CBN.

He also noted that Binance holds events to educate Nigerian users about its Fiat Gateway, emphasizing that Binance does not charge deposit fees but applies flat fees for withdrawals.

After Mr. Akinwumi’s testimony, Justice Nwite adjourned the case until July 16 for cross-examination of the prosecution witness.