Binance Is Having an Odd Time

Binance
is
having
a
weird
moment,
perhaps
most
clearly
illustrated
by
the
fact
that
a
national
government
detained
two
of
its
executives
for
a
month
now
–
and
one
is
only
free
because
he
seemingly
escaped
custody.

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Nigeria
and
the
Philippines
have
recently
cracked
down
on
Binance
in

extremely
different
ways,
while
what
used
to
be
Binance
in
Russia
is
shutting
down.

Binance
has
been
the
poster
child
as
the
target
of
governments’
ire
against
the
crypto
industry.
Actions
like
last
year’s
joint
U.S.
Department
of
Justice,
Treasury
Department
and
Commodity
Futures
Trading
Commission
settlement
against
Binance
support
the
thesis
that
Binance
hasn’t
played
within
regulatory
guidelines
in
the
past.
And
then
there’s
whatever
is
going
on
in
Nigeria.

It’s
been
a
bit
of
a
weird
time
for
Binance.
Two
executives
had
been
detained
by
a
country
that
appears
to
be
grasping
for
reasons
to
keep
them
there
(one
has
since
escaped,
possibly
with
a
fake
passport).
In
the
meantime,
a
handful
of
other
countries
have
cracked
down
on
the
exchange.

Over
the
weekend,
the
operator
of

what
used
to
be
Binance’s
Russian
platform,

CommEx,
announced

it
would
start
shutting
down
services
in
the
country
over
the
next
several
weeks.

Meanwhile,
the
Philippines’
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission

published
an
order
announcing

it
would
block
Binance
in
the
nation,
saying
it
“poses
a
threat
to
the
security
of
the
funds
of
investing
Filipinos.”
This
follows
a
warning
from
the
regulator
last
November.

And,
of
course,
there’s
Nigeria,
which
a
month
ago
detained
two
Binance
executives
–
Tigran
Gambaryan
and
Nadeem
Anjarwalla
–
without
announcing
any
charges
against
either
individual.
Gambaryan
is
a
former
U.S.
Internal
Revenue
Service
investigator
who
heads
financial
crimes
enforcement
compliance
at
Binance,
while
Anjarwalla
is
a
dual
national
of
the
U.K.
and
Kenya.
Anjarwalla

has
since
escaped
under
odd
circumstances,
while
Gambaryan
is
still
detained.

The
Record
published
a
comprehensive
summary
of
the
situation
earlier
on
Tuesday.

The
U.S.
and
U.K.
governments
are
aware
of
the
detentions,
statements
from
their
respective
agencies
said
in
statements
to
CoinDesk
reporters.

A
U.S.
State
Department
spokesperson
told
CoinDesk
the
entity
was
“aware
of
reports
of
the
detention
of
a
U.S.
citizen
in
Abuja,
Nigeria,”
while
a
spokesperson
for
the
U.K.’s
Foreign,
Commonwealth
&
Development
Office
said,
“We
are
supporting
a
British
man
detained
in
Nigeria
and
are
in
contact
with
the
local
authorities.”

A
spokesperson
for
the
Kenyan
government’s
counterpart
could
not
immediately
be
reached.
A
White
House
spokesperson
didn’t
return
requests
for
comment.

The
executives
were
detained
ostensibly
because
the
government
blamed
Binance
for
its
ongoing
currency
crisis.
According
to
The
Wall
Street
Journal,
which
was
the
first
outlet
to
identify
the
executives,
the
two
were
initially
not
charged
with
any
crimes.
After
Anjarwalla’s
reported
escape,

Nigeria
charged
Binance,
Gambaryan
and
Anjarwalla
with
tax
evasion
–
four
weeks
after
first
confiscating
the
executives’
passports
and
placing
them
under
house
arrest.

“When
a
U.S.
citizen
is
detained
overseas,
the
Department
works
to
provide
all
appropriate
assistance,”
the
U.S.
State
Department
spokesperson
said.
“Due
to
privacy
considerations,
we
have
no
further
comment.”

A
spokesperson
for
Yuki
Gambaryan
and
Elahe
Anjarwalla,
Tigran
and
Nadeem’s
wives,
told
CoinDesk
earlier
this
month
that
they
were
not
yet
aware
of
any
specific
actions
taken
by
the
various
governments.

“They
have
received
a
lot
of
information
from
the
families
and
we
know
that
they’ve
been
in
touch
and
they
are
aware
of
what
is
happening,”
they
said.
“But
as
far
as
we
know,
with
regards
to
specific
actions
that
they
have
taken
with
their
Nigerian
counterparts,
we’re
not
aware
of
anything
up
to
now.”

If
you’ve
got
thoughts
or
questions
on
what
I
should
discuss
next
week
or
any
other
feedback
you’d
like
to
share,
feel
free
to
email
me
at

nik@coindesk.com
or
find
me
on
Twitter

@nikhileshde.

You
can
also
join
the
group
conversation
on

Telegram.

See
ya’ll
next
week!