Court-Ordered Freeze of Crypto Assets

The court’s decision to immobilize four digital wallets, reportedly connected to the organizers of the #EndBadGovernance movement, was driven by a request from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The Premium Times reported on Tuesday, citing court documents, that this substantial financial blockade targets a portion of the $50 million the government claims was channeled through cryptocurrency to fuel the protests.

Government’s Justification and Response 

Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, disclosed in a high-level meeting involving the Council of State, convened by President Bola Tinubu, that the authorities had traced $50 million to crypto wallets. “The government successfully blocked four of those wallets containing $38 million,” Ribadu stated, as reported by Punch.

However, skepticism surrounds these claims. According to Peoples Gazette, one of the targeted crypto addresses reportedly showed a zero balance and appeared to have never been active, raising questions about the accuracy of the government’s assertions. Efforts to obtain comments from Ribadu or the EFCC were met with silence.

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Backdrop of Economic and Social Unrest

The freezing of these funds occurs against the backdrop of widespread public discontent in Nigeria, where citizens have been demonstrating against the relentless rise in living costs. The national currency, the naira, has been in freefall against the U.S. dollar for over a year, exacerbating inflation, which has surged to a staggering 28-year high of 33.2%. Government officials have partially attributed the naira’s depreciation to the influence of cryptocurrency trading, which they claim has disrupted the economy.

Earlier this year, Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Bank of Nigeria, criticized the role of crypto exchange Binance in exacerbating the country’s financial woes. Cardoso asserted that Binance facilitated the untraceable transfer of $26 billion out of Nigeria last year, undermining tax revenues and prompting government scrutiny. This scrutiny led to the controversial detention of Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance official, who had been invited to Nigeria for discussions related to the ongoing dispute.