On Monday, the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court postponed the tax evasion trial against cryptocurrency exchange Binance to April 30, granting the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) time to respond to the exchange’s request to dismiss a court order allowing legal documents to be served through email.
Binance’s lawyer, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, argued that the order was improper, in that the tax authority did not obtain judicial leave to serve documents outside Nigeria.
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FIRS seeks $79.5 billion in damages
“On the whole, the order for the substituted service as granted by the court on February 11, 2025, on Binance, who is registered under the laws of Cayman Islands and resident in Cayman Islands, is improper and should be set aside,” Ikwuazom stated. Binance, who has no physical presence in Nigeria, insisted that the FIRS’s approach was legally flawed.
The FIRS alleged that Binance’s operations caused significant economic losses in the county and is demanding $79.5 billion in damages, alongside $2 billion in back taxes. Court filings reveal the tax authority claims Binance has a “significant economic presence” in the country, making it liable for corporate income tax for 2022 and 2023, plus a 10 percent annual penalty on unpaid amounts.
The case is part of Nigeria’s broader crackdown on cryptocurrency platforms accused of destabilising the naira.
In 2024, two Binance executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla were detained amid a probe into the company’s role in facilitating naira-denominated crypto trades. The federal government alleges that platforms like Binance have undermined official exchange rates and enabled capital flight through peer-to-peer trading.
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Nigeria’s shifting crypto regulatory landscape
Nigeria’s stance on cryptocurrency has evolved over the years. In 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) barred financial institutions from crypto transactions but reversed the policy in December 2023.
However, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared Binance’s operations illegal at the time, as the exchange was not registered in the country.
They further accused the crypto company of contributing to the naira’s devaluation, claiming $26 billion in untraceable funds flowed through the platform. The government then demanded data on Binance’s top Nigerian users, signalling heightened scrutiny.
As a result, the FIRS is expected to defend its method of serving court documents as the case resumes on April 30. Binance maintains it is working to resolve historic tax liabilities.