By Emmanuel Nduka
More than 280 cryptocurrency accounts owned by Nigerians on Binance, the world largest cryptocurrency platform, have been restricted.
This is due to efforts of International law enforcement crackdown on fraudulent activities on the platform.
Nigerians had recently taken to Twitter to report the platform and protest with the hashtag “#BinanceStopTheScam”, after they couldn’t access their accounts.
The complainants included that Binance had seized their fiat currency saved in their wallets by locking them out of their accounts, with most of them stating they’ve been denied access for more than three months.
Responding to the scam claim, Binance Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Changpeng Zhao, said in a Website post on Saturday, that an international investigation caused the platform to restrict the accounts.
According to his statement, 281 accounts belonging to Nigerians were affected, and 38% of these cases restricted at the request of international law enforcement.
However, out of the number affected, it was gathered that 79 cases have been resolved.
“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% of these cases restricted at the request of international law enforcement,” Zhao said.
