Nigerian government officials have announced it froze millions of dollars in cryptocurrency allegedly donated to fund the recent nationwide protests against widespread hardship and poverty blamed on shock therapy-like government policies and perceived financial excesses of the state.
According to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, a staggering USD 50 M in crypto, of which USD 38 M contained in four crypto wallets was blocked, was channelled into the protests.
The singling out of crypto, which also featured prominently in donations during the EndSARS protests in 2020, is conspicuous amid recent run-ins. Nigeria has escalated its war on cryptocurrency lately, detaining two Binance executives and blocking access to major crypto exchanges earlier this year.
Authorities accuse these platforms of fueling the nairas decline, claiming USD 26 B in suspicious transactions through Binance alone in the past year. These moves signal a growing hostility towards the digital asset sector in the African nation.
The revelation of the seizures came during a Council of State meeting convened by President Bola Tinubu, reports local daily THE PUNCH . Ribadu also claimed that political actors contributed an additional NGN 4 B in fiat currency to support the demonstrations.
