$26bn Illicit Flows: Binance Traders Are Traceable, Crytpo Expert Tells CBN
A trained crytpo investigator Obinna Iwuno says traders on cryptocurrency trading website Binance are not anonymous as they can be traced.
Iwuno, who is the President of the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria, was a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast show, The Morning Brief on Tuesday.
He was addressing a claim by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso that $26bn illicit flows passed through Binance last year.
“The CBN governor said $26bn is unidentified but he has not told us is that how they arrived at the $26bn because that is on the only basis that I will fault or right the CBN,” Iwuno said.
“I am a certified cryptocurrency investigator. I am also a certified cryptocurrency compliance specialist. I can tell you that these things are traceable. You cannot perform a transaction, as long as it passes through the blockchain, that cannot be traced.
“If you use a centralised exchange like Binance, it is finished because you cannot be on those platform without your identit being known.”
He said most crypto platforms use Bank Verification Number(BVN) and driver’s licence as know-your-customer verification measures. He insisted that there was no how a trader will be on Binance and cannot be traced, adding that the Interpol and other security agencies had in the past cracked down on bad actors in the blockchain technology value chain.
The trained crytpo investigator also said the Federal Government has failed to regulate virtual asset services in the country, hence, there is no regulation that bind Binance to Nigeria, which has one of the company’s biggest traders.
“Binance is not licensed to operate in Nigeria. Nigeria did not regulate virtual asset services and providers and this is what we have been calling for, for years. Because of that, there is no regulation that made them binding to us. If there was regulation in the country, Binance will be a member of SiBAN,” he said.
Iwuno noted that his association has been against bad actors in the industry and had come up with many initiatives to stifle folks with sharp practices.
Two Binance executives were arrested in Nigeria last week and the government has demanded about $10bn compensation from the cryptocurrency platform on allegations of manipulation of foreign exchange rates which has negatively affected the value of the naira against the dollar.
