The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria has ordered Binance to halt its operations in the country in another major blow for the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

In a statement, the SEC said that a local unit of Binance was illegally courting investors through a website due to the company not being registered or regulated. The statement, dated 9 June, says: "Binance Nigeria Limited is hereby directed to immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever."

The Nigerian SEC last year published a set of regulations for digital assets as it sought to find a balance between a ban on crypto assets and their unregulated use. The year prior, Nigeria’s central bank banned banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in digital currencies.

The news is an added blow for Binance, which last week was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator alleged that Binance had mixed "billions of dollars" in customer funds and secretly sent them to a separate company controlled by founder and chief executive, Changpeng Zhao. Zhao, Binance Holdings and two additional Binance-linked companies, face 13 civil charges.

The US SEC also is suing fellow crypto exchange Coinbase, alleging the company made billions of dollars by operating as a middleman on crypto transactions, while evading disclosure requirements meant to protect investors.

Share Story: