The Nigerian government is trying to freeze Nigerian crypto wallets associated with the protest of EndBadGovernance in the country. Besides these efforts, some wallets linked with protest funding are still active.
The National Security Advisor of Nigeria, Nuhu Ribadu announced the freezing of funds in a council meeting advised by President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja on August 13.
The council meeting claims that the total funds of 83 billion Nigerian naira have been seized in cryptocurrencies traced as funding to the protest.
The frozen funds include $50 million in cryptocurrency, and $38 million of funds are frozen in 4 wallets that were supposed to be collected for funding. The political workers also contributed a total of $2,540, which is also held by the government.
According to the local media investigation, the addresses represent false information that the government claims. Some wallets are still processing transactions and showing false data.
The wallets connected to KuCoin and MEXC exchanges are still actively working, revoking the government’s claim of freezing addresses. One wallet actively transferred 78 million naira to an unknown wallet, making the transfer of funds as quick as possible. The identity of the owner is still unknown, but it is anticipated that the exchange might be sharing this information with the authorities.
Crypto Transactions Highlight Regulatory Hurdles
A social media forensic expert advised the government to request the exchanges to support the investigation in finding the culprits involved in the protest funding.
The expert added that the exchanges often revoke the government request for providing such information if there is no legal basis, and they might resist if no such crime is identified later.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which requested the freezing of funds, is also investigating the allegations of money involved in money laundering and terrorism financing.
This initiative made the situation harder as the misrepresentation in transactional data questioned the abilities of the government and transparency.
The ongoing activities of the government will impact the regulation of cryptocurrency. Traditional financial systems have a form of subjectivity and centralization that makes it extremely difficult to stop funds and block accounts, as is the case with the s and track the movement of funds.
