Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a new warning on Binance.
Reiterating its warning in June, the institution reminded that Binance's activities in Nigeria are illegal and stated that investors who trade here cannot benefit from investor protection laws.
The following statements were included in the warning text:
“As a continuation of the Commission's previous circular of June 9, 2023, which was used to request the Nigerian public to trade cryptoassets with respect to the Binance-operated website (https://www.binance.com);
It reiterates once again that Binance, https://www.binance.com and other such platforms from which the company collects investors are not registered or regulated by the commission and therefore their activities in Nigeria are illegal. Any member of the investing public doing business with the entity and making such requests does so at his own risk.
As the regulatory body with statutory investor protection powers, the Commission warns the public that investing in cryptoassets carries a high level of risk and can result in a complete loss of investment. The Commission therefore urges the investor public to be cautious about investing in cryptoassets and other products offered or operated by entities that are not registered or regulated by the Commission.
By this circular, all platform providers who make such requests are directed to immediately cease making any solicitations to Nigerian investors.
The Commission will provide updates on other regulatory actions regarding the activities of such operators and related platforms and will work with other regulators in Nigeria to provide further guidance on this matter.”
In the June statement, a company called Binance Nigeria Limited was targeted and Binance stated that it had nothing to do with it. The last statement targeted Binance Global's website.