Key Takeaways:
- Binance has recently been the victim of a boycott movement organised by frustrated users. The campaigners are encouraging other Binance users across Africa to join them in voice their discontent with the exchange by using the hashtag #Binancestopscamming.
- Users in Nigeria tell Binance to ‘Stop Scamming,’ but the exchange platform denies the accusations. Disappointed Nigerian users of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance have started a boycott campaign, accusing the firm of blocking client accounts without cause.
- Binance stated that it is dedicated to collaborating with law enforcement agencies to keep our community secure and to combat fraudulent conduct throughout the sector.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is being reprimanded by its Nigerian users for the “unreasonable” cancellation of their accounts, among other dubious practises carried out by the platform.
Annoyed Nigerian users of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance have started a boycott campaign, accusing the firm of blocking client accounts without cause.
The campaigners encourage other Binance users across Africa to join them in voicing their unhappiness with the exchange by using the hashtag #Binancestopscamming.
Several users have claimed that Binance cancelled their accounts or froze their crypto holdings without explaining, according to a trending Twitter Nigeria hashtag, #BinanceStopScamming, which has received over 20k tweets in the previous 24 hours.
Nigerian users are outraged, and the Twitter community is becoming enraged, expressing their dissatisfaction through reposts, memes, and hashtags.
People are challenging the exchange’s responsibility, claiming that if it’s unlawful to invest with the platform, it’s preferable they don’t provide users access, to begin with rather than taking their assets without cause.
“Binance, stop scamming Nigerians”
Binance is one of the most popular exchanges because of its peer-to-peer (P2P) feature, which allows crypto dealers to circumvent the government’s anti-crypto position.
According to a report in the Premium Times newspaper, users’ rage at Binance derives from apparent modifications to the platform’s terms of service. As a result, some users have lost access to their assets.
Ama Judy, one of the users, said that the exchange had taken her crypto possessions and held them for ten months. She added that she had not received a positive reaction to her attempts to contact the firm’s customer support department.
When asked for more information, she stated that the exchange first prevented her from withdrawing her crypto assets in March 2021 due to “risk control.” Then, in January of this year, the exchange suspended her account for violating their terms and conditions.
Binance’s terms and conditions under scrutiny
A closer examination of some of the responses provided by the exchange’s customer support agents reveals that they were citing a section of the exchange’s terms and conditions that allowed them to freeze users’ accounts without their approval or notification.
“Binance and Binance Chain community reserves the right to refuse service of the Site, or to bar transactions from or to, or terminate any relationship with, any user for any reason (or for no reason) at any time.” according to the terms and conditions visible in screenshots.
This provision has been criticised on Twitter. However, according to Binance’s official website, the exchange may suspend users’ accounts if it detects that any account is in breach of the exchange’s terms, privacy policy, or other applicable laws and regulations.
Binance claims the accusations to be baseless
Meanwhile, Binance Africa stated in a tweet on January 26 that it had been restricted access to some accounts in its official response to the concerns. On the other hand, the exchange stated that it only disables accounts when there is a valid reason. The following is a tweet from the exchange:
“At times, we proactively restrict accounts to protect users’ funds. Other times, we have to restrict accounts at the request of law enforcement. But never will we restrict accounts without good reason.”
Users who believe their accounts were wrongfully suspended were also urged to fill out a form so that Binance could thoroughly evaluate the situation.
According to the exchange, users who are unhappy with the exchange must fill out an online form, which will be used to “evaluate if and why your account is restricted,” according to the exchange. In addition, Binance “will offer you specifics of who to contact for [the] following steps” in circumstances when an account has been blocked at the request of a law enforcement body.
The exchange also stated that it “proactively restricts accounts to protect users’ funds. Other times, we have to restrict accounts at the request of law enforcement. But never will we restrict accounts without good reason.”
Binance said in a tweet that it is committed to collaborating with law enforcement agencies to ensure our community remains safe and to combat fraudulent conduct throughout the sector. “Binance is not scamming you.”
