Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has restated that the operations of Binance in the country are illegal, urging the public to be wary of investing in crypto assets offered by the company.
The Commission made the clarification in a circular titled, “Warning Against Investing With Binance” signed by the management.
It read: “In furtherance of the Commission’s earlier circular, dated 9 June, 2023, with respect to the website operated by Binance (https://www.binance.com) used for soliciting the Nigerian public to trade crypto assets.
“The Commission again reiterates that the activities of Binance, https://www.binance.com and any such other platform through which the Company solicits investors is neither registered nor regulated by the Commission and its operations in Nigeria are therefore illegal.
“Any member of the investing public dealing with the entity, making such solicitation is doing so at his/her own risk.
“As the regulator with the statutory mandate of investor protection, the Commission hereby warns the public that investing in crypto-assets have a high level of risk and may result in total loss of investments. The Commission therefore urges the investing public to be wary of investing in crypto- assets and other products offered or operated by entities not registered or regulated by the Commission.
“By this circular, all platform providers, making such solicitations, are hereby directed to immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever.
“The Commission shall provide updates on further regulatory actions with respect to the activities of such operators and related platforms, and shall work with other regulators in Nigeria to provide further guidance on this matter.”
