Authorities blame Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, for Nigeria’s currency woes and detained two of its executives in 2024 after crypto websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the local naira currency.
Nigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel Binance to pay $79.5bn for economic losses the country’s government says were caused by the cryptocurrency exchange’s operations there and $2bn in back taxes, court documents showed on Wednesday.
The charges include non-payment of value-added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns and complicity in helping customers to evade taxes through its platform.
Binance was already facing four counts of tax evasion in Nigeria after a government crackdown on the industry last year.
The inland revenue service alleges that Binance has a “significant economic presence” in Nigeria and is therefore liable for corporate income tax.
