See Why Binance Accounts Were Restricted In Nigeria

Cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance, has revealed why accounts of two hundred and eighty-one Nigerian users were restricted.

The Chief Executive Officer, Changpeng Zhao, in a statement said thirty-eight accounts that were restricted were based on international law enforcement requests.

Some users of the Binance global exchange have been filing complaints on social media.

Some Nigerian users lamented that they could not access their accounts without any reason given by the platform.

#BinanceStopScamming was the third trending topic on Nigerian Twitter on Wednesday with over 25,000 tweets.

Zhao in his reaction to the development wrote a statement titled, ‘A letter from our CEO to Nigerians: Our commitment to user protection’.

The letter read, “The Nigerian community is one that brings me great pride. Since the inception of Binance, Nigeria and Africa at large have been very special markets to us and for crypto. On hearing the concerns raised by the community, I decided to write to re-emphasize our commitment to you.

“First and foremost, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused by delays in resolving your customer support requests. User security remains our top priority. We love and are devoted to our Nigerian community, but we must ensure that our users are safe. As such, protection mechanisms such as KYC, anti-money laundering measures, collaboration with law enforcement, and account restrictions are in place to ensure our community remains protected and that fraudulent activity is prevented. This is a global approach applied in every country.

“Some 281 Nigerian accounts have been affected by these personal account restrictions with approximately 38 per cent of these cases restricted at the request of international law enforcement.

“Regardless, we owe it to you, our users, to deliver the experience you deserve. Your trust in us is important — and here’s what we’re doing to rebuild that trust:

“Ensuring speedy resolutions of ongoing user cases tied to account restrictions: Currently, we have resolved 79 cases and continue to work through others. All non-law enforcement-related cases will be resolved within two weeks.

“Devoting more customer service personnel to the region: We will dedicate more CS and risk agents with a great understanding of the Nigerian market.”