in the streets of Nigeria and its bubbling economy, a question lingers over the role of the cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance. Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has alleged Binance to be behind the depreciation of the local currency, naira, thus putting the country to fire.

More pressingly, with the attempt to solve the country’s huge economic challenges now being given a hot spotlight, it has never been more at stake. In a frank interview on Channels Television, Onanuga made it clear he is seriously concerned about the operations of Binance and what that implies for the economy of Nigeria. He has raised an alarm that regulatory intervention is urgent to arrest what he sees as menacing the financial sovereignty of the nation. Onanuga sentiments are echoing those of other government officials, pointing to growing apprehension over the seemingly unbridled influence of cryptocurrency exchanges.

The controversy around Binance had further raked up when two top officials of the cryptocurrency exchanges were arrested by security agencies in Nigeria. The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, and some officials have connected the most recent erosion of the naira to alleged malpractices by Binance. However, Binance has flatly denied these charges and goes on to say that it is the currency fluctuations that come from factors termed as being “beyond their control.

Onanuga, however, points out that despite these claims to the contrary, there is a firm belief that Binance, in fact, manipulates the parallel market exchange rate, and this totally devalues the central bank’s power and, ultimately, the destabilization of the economy. “We have saboteurs. Look at what Binance is doing to our economy. Some people sit down using the cyberspace to dictate even our exchange rate, hijacking the role of CBN. It is sabotage; and we are trying to prevent that from happening henceforth,” Onanuga said.

Besides, Onanuga expressed disappointment at the high reliance level of most Nigerians on the “illegal” parallel foreign exchange market. This question, despite its popularity, always lingers: the rationale to support a market operating outside regulated oversight. He further advised people to use only authorized channels for the exchange of their monies, adhering to the regulatory guidelines for keeping a stable financial status.

As tensions escalate between the Nigerian authorities and Binance, the debate really rages on over whether the digital currency exchange is playing a central role in the financial landscape of Nigeria. With mounting regulatory scrutiny and such allegations of economic sabotage swirling around, the future of cryptocurrency regulation in Nigeria remains in a balance.

The outcome of this unfolding saga will no doubt determine Nigeria’s economic stability trajectory and, therefore, hold wide sway over further adoption of digital finance in the region. The enormous value that the industry creates has vested interests in the viability and success of a particular digital currency at the expense of the security and investment of its users. So policymakers will have to walk a balance; on the one hand, between the innovation and stability of a terrain filled with thorns of uncertainty and, on the other, between the competing interests. It’s a big deal—whatever decisions are made in the next few days can echo across Nigeria’s economy for years.

And so, the world watches with bated breath, as Nigeria stands at the fork, tipped to chart a course in this rapidly changing landscape of digital finance. Whether Binance is going to emerge a game-changer for economic growth or a harbinger of instability is a matter of time. It is evident that a lot of sound thinking and collaboration among all these parties would be required in the future to guarantee the financial future of Nigeria.