The trial of Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance executive, opened on Friday with a surprising accusation: that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, played a role in weakening Nigeria’s currency, the naira.
This unexpected charge comes alongside money laundering allegations initially leveled against Gambaryan and Binance.
Abdulkadir Abbas, a director of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), testified that Binance’s peer-to-peer trading platform essentially created an unofficial foreign exchange market in Nigeria. Abbas, representing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), claimed that Binance’s activities negatively impacted the naira’s official exchange rate.
He further stated that the platform’s large user base in Nigeria established it as a reference point for determining the naira’s value.
This testimony follows a pre-trial hearing where Gambaryan, detained since February 26th, was denied bail due to flight risk concerns. Both Gambaryan and Binance refute the money laundering and tax evasion charges, with the additional accusation of currency manipulation.
Gambaryan’s colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British citizen, managed to escape to Kenya in March and remains there.
The Nigerian government has blamed Binance for the naira’s struggles since early 2024, citing the platform’s allowance for trading a digital version of the naira against the US dollar-pegged Tether (USDT) stablecoin.
Binance has consistently denied accusations of foreign exchange manipulation, insisting their activities had no bearing on the currency market.
In an attempt to resolve the dispute, Binance sent Gambaryan and Anjarwalla to Nigeria in late February. However, their meeting with Nigerian authorities proved unsuccessful, with both refusing to hand over customer data. This lead to their arrests, escalating the situation.
Beyond the alleged currency manipulation, Abbas further testified that Binance operated in Nigeria without registering with the SEC.
Gambaryan’s lawyer requested an adjournment to study the presented evidence for cross-examination following Abbas’ testimony,. The trial is expected to resume on May 23rd.
