Binance’s CEO responds to claims of Blocked Nigeria Accounts

Following claims made against Binance by its Nigerian users, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance’s CEO and Asia’s richest man, has sent a statement to its Nigerian users titled “Our dedication to User Protection.”

Multiple users of the Binance global exchange complained on social media on Wednesday, accusing the exchange of suspending accounts for weeks or months without providing any feedback or explanation.

On Wednesday, it was the third most popular topic on Twitter, with over 25,000 tweets. It was also in the top five on Thursday, with over 10,000 tweets using the hashtag #BinanceStopScamming.

Emmanuel Babalola, the African director of the exchange, in the AMA session, explained that approximately 200 people filled out the forms the exchange put out on social media. He stated that 30% of the alleged blocked accounts were related to stolen cryptocurrencies and were cases with law enforcement agencies, while 70% were general issues related to KYC requirements.

The letter from CZ comes after the Binance Africa team, led by Emmanuel Babalola, the African director of the exchange, Damilola Odufuwa, the PR lead for Binance Africa and Ben Nsikan, the community manager for Binance Africa, hosted a Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on YouTube, where the team set out to address various issues that have been raised around social media, particularly about the world’s global exchange, locking accounts of its African users, particularly its Nigerian users.

In CZ’s letter, he stated, “User security remains our top priority. We love and are devoted to our Nigerian community, but we must ensure that our users are safe. As such, protection mechanisms such as KYC, anti-money laundering measures, collaboration with law enforcement, and account restrictions are in place to ensure our community remains protected and that fraudulent activity is prevented. This is a global approach applied in every country.”