A Judge of a Federal High Court in Abuja, has lifted the freezing order placed on six bank accounts that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had previously flagged for engaging in cryptocurrency exchanges between naira and other currencies at rates that were perceived harmful to Nigeria’s financial system.
Justice Emeka Nwite overturned the order on December 2nd, 2024, determining that the funds in these accounts were not linked to any illegal activities.
The affected accounts include: Microtech Investment Services (N3,545,660.73), and HML Business Ventures (N53,585,649.77), Awe Microfinance Bank (N2,367,624.45), Olalekan Sibiku Adesugba (N3,375,435.41), Ad Ishola Farms (N10,104,482.91), H. Ishola Multibiz Int’l (N16,505,822.74).
According to information gathered by Investors king, on September 4, 2024, the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) reportedly obtained an order freezing N548.6 million in bank accounts belonging to suspected cryptocurrency users on ByBit, KucCoin and others.
This ruling followed the EFCC’s November 25, 2024, filing of an affidavit, accusing the account holders of engaging in unauthorized foreign exchange dealings and money laundering.
However, after further investigation, the EFCC determined that the funds in these six accounts were not linked to any illegal activities.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) are already taking legal action against Binance for alleged tax evasion and money laundering offenses involving $35.4 million.
The Commission has expanded its investigation to include ByBit and KuCoin, accusing them of facilitating manipulation causing, “distortions in the market, resulting in the naira losing its value against other currencies.”
ByBit, one of the few remaining exchanges offering peer-to-peer trading, remains popular among Nigerian crypto traders, following a crackdown on other exchanges like Binance, which led to the delisting of their peer-to-peer categories.
The Nigerian government’s concerns about cryptocurrency have led to increased regulatory measures. The National Security Adviser has classified crypto trading as a national security issue, prompting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to order several fintech companies–OPay, Palmpay, Moniepoint, Kuda, and Paga— to stop onboarding new customers and prohibit cryptocurrency transactions on their platforms.
In response to these regulatory pressures, fintech companies later announced the suspension of cryptocurrency or virtual currency transactions on their platforms.
KuCoin has implemented a Value Added Tax (VAT) charge on its platform. This move comes as part of a broader crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges, which has forced Binance to exit the Nigerian market and both Binance and KuCoin to suspend peer-to-peer trading in naira.
