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United States pressures Nigeria to free Binance executive
The United States government is pressuring Nigeria to release a former executive of leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance.As ReadWrite reported at the time, Nigeria detained two Binance executive back in March. The two executives are Binances criminal investigations team Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla the regional manager for Africa based in Kenya.A coordinated pressure campaignThe detention of former United States law enforcement officer Gambaryan has caused significant strain in the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. Anonymous sources cited by the New York Times claim that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken raised the issue with Nigerian state officials back in May.Other United States diplomats have also reportedly urged for Gambaryans release in private conversations with Nigerias president, finance minister, attorney general and trade minister. The diplomats have also reasoned that he should be released on humanitarian grounds, since he suffered from malaria and a herniated disk.Those claims follow Gambaryans lawyers requesting his bail on health grounds earlier this month. Gambaryans previous court appearances have seen him participate in crutches and complaining to a judge that he had been denied a wheelchair.The Binance executives family also claimed that the Nigerian prison system failed to provide adequate medical care to him leading to his health rapidly deteriorating. Gambaryan was arrested when he traveled to Nigeria to hold meetings with local officials.Nigerian authorities claim that Binance harmed its economy by allowing capital to abandon the country as the Nigerian naira fiat currency was collapsing. Nigerias crackdown on the crypto industry and ban on cryptocurrency exchanges followed a significant devaluation of Nigerias naira fiat currency.Market data indicates that the naira plunged to $0.00062 from $0.013 a year ago, or a loss of nearly 95 percent of its value against the dollar. While local officials blame cryptocurrency, Bloomberg reportedat the end of July that mismanagement also is to blame. The report said Nigerias countrys economy has stagnated for years, and its resource riches plundered by a politically connected elite.The post United States pressures Nigeria to free Binance executive appeared first on ReadWrite.
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