Binance Restricts 281 Nigerian Accounts Citing Safety Measure

Binance has restricted the accounts over AML concerns. All non-law enforcement-related cases are expected to be resolved within two weeks

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by Axel Rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Binance has restricted 281 Nigerian-based personal accounts
  • Of those, around a third have been restricted at the request of international law enforcement.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume, has restricted 281 personal Nigerian accounts with more than a third being at the behest of law enforcement.

In a letter on Saturday, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said user security remained Binance’s “top priority” before citing that anti-money laundering measures and account restrictions were in place.

Around 79 other cases that were facing restrictions have been resolved while all non-law enforcement-related cases are expected to be resolved within two weeks. More Binance personnel are being deployed to expedite the matter CZ said.

Of the 281 accounts, 38% have been restricted at the request of international law enforcement, the letter said.

Loading Tweet..

Last week, users began complaining of issues on Twitter revolving around Nigerian-based Binance accounts. #Binancestopscammingnigerians was seen trending before CZ responded with the letter.

In February of last year, Binance briefly suspended deposits in Nigerian naira following orders from the country central bank for local banks to close accounts linked to various cryptocurrency platforms.

Crypto is seen by many in the 190 million-strong population of Nigeria as a means to circumvent monetary controls and to serve the underbanked or unbanked. Crypto exchanges have, for quite a while, offered up a means to transact peer-to-peer at a time when more than half in the country are unbanked.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

Silk Road founder Ulbricht made a triumphant return to the Bitcoin Conference, 10 years on from sentencing

article-image

A Blockworks Research report looked at who could take up some of the marketshare in the launchpad space

article-image

Business-to-business stablecoin payments are on the rise, per a report from Artemis, Dragonfly and Castle Island

article-image

Crypto continues to do its thing: incentivizing behavior

article-image

Kraken will soon offer Backed ‘xStocks’ as Solana tokens

article-image

In a unanimous decision, the US Court of International Trade has ruled that Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are unlawful