Key points
Tigran Gambarian, a former US federal agent, has been in detention in Nigeria for six months, his physical and mental health deteriorating rapidly.
Although Tigran is in severe pain and unable to walk, the Nigerian government has refused to provide him with the medical care he needs or access to a lawyer, unconstitutionally. He was also denied access to US consular support.
The Nigerian government justifies Tigran's detention with baseless accusations linking Binance to the country's economic woes, including the falling naira. This claim is not supported by the facts and is explained in this text below.
There is no need to imprison an innocent employee to make him answer for allegations against Binance. Binance resolved issues with other countries around the world without the involvement of our staff.
Binance calls for US intervention and global support. We strongly urge the US government, citizens and organizations around the world to exert political pressure to obtain Tigran's release on humanitarian grounds and to protest the unjust detention practices in Nigeria.
Six months have passed since the unjust detention of Tigran Gambarian. Tigran's physical and mental condition is rapidly deteriorating, and now his situation is more dire than ever. He is in severe pain and cannot walk due to a herniated disc. Despite his condition, the Nigerian government denies him adequate medical care, including basic necessities such as access to a wheelchair.
In addition, the authorities are refusing to give him access to a lawyer, despite the fact that his trial began on September 2, which we were told is unconstitutional in Nigeria. The court demanded that the government provide Tigran's medical records, but months later, they never did. Tigran was denied access to a representative of his US consulate this week. These actions are unclear.
I am deeply concerned about the long-term, potentially irreversible physical and mental effects this horrific episode is having on Tigran, and I am once again calling on the Nigerian government to allow him to return home to his family on humanitarian grounds so that he can receive appropriate treatment in the US, recover and return to the healthy, active life he had before.
Baseless accusations should not be used to continue Tigran's detention
The reason the Nigerian government used to justify the continued detention of Tigran is that "Binance operates virtually and the only thing we can hold on to is this defendant." This was stated by the representative of the prosecution during the consideration of the petition for release on bail, where he advocated that Tigran should not be released on bail, as he may flee.
This statement is far from the truth. There is no need to imprison an innocent employee to answer the charges against Binance. We have addressed issues in countries around the world, including the US, Thailand and most recently Brazil and India, in a prudent, collaborative and friendly manner with governments. All this was done without threats or harm to our employees.
Another claim by the Nigerian government was that Binance was responsible for the fall of its currency, but this was not supported by the facts. Between 2021 and the end of 2022, the naira traded in a relatively narrow range of 1:380 to 1:440 to the US dollar. At that time, we offered P2P services as an additional service for our users who wanted access to cryptocurrency. The pegging of the naira to the government-set exchange rate in June 2023 has caused the biggest fall in the naira's history according to experts. The price fell from 1:460 USD in June 2023 to 1:900 USD by the end of 2023. Since then, the downward trend has continued. As of July 31, 2024, the naira was trading at USD 1,660, a 50% decline since the start of 2024. This downward trend continued even though Binance stopped offering P2P services in the country in February 2024. As economists have more elegantly explained, the movement of the country's currency can be attributed to various macroeconomic factors.
It is useful to note that Nigeria has never been a big market for Binance. The government has said that in 2023 we have got US$26 billion in revenue from Nigeria. This is not true. USD 21.6 billion is the volume of transactions from 2023. Transaction volume is if a person takes $1,000 and trades it 1,000 times, that would be $1 million in transaction volume. Our actual revenue is based on charging a small percentage of transaction fees, and we are proud to offer our users some of the lowest fees of any exchange in the world.
Call to action
Tigran is a proud American who should not be subjected to such unfair treatment. I sincerely hope that the American government and political apparatus can exert their political will and muscle to bring Tigran home soon so that he can receive proper treatment and be reunited with his family and loved ones. The US administration and lawmakers have the right to recognize Tigran as one of their "illegally detained" citizens abroad, and there are good reasons for this.
People all over the world must add their voices and express their concerns, convincing the Nigerian government that such unilateral actions without a sound basis will harm the long-term economic development and well-being of the country. Key stakeholders in the Nigerian government decided to unjustly and illegally detain Tigran, and they could just as easily make the just decision to allow Tigran, a former US federal agent, to return home. On humanitarian grounds, we call on all decision makers in Nigeria to allow Tigran to return home safely to his wife and two young children.
Once these challenges are resolved, we look forward to working with the Nigerian government to support the development of the Web3 industry, create more opportunities for young talent, and support efforts to attract more foreign direct investment.
Richard Teng, CEO of Binance.
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