Nigeria Gets Approval to Freeze KuCoin and MEXC Global Wallets

A Nigerian court has granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) approval to freeze two hot wallets belonging to KuCoin and MEXC Global Exchanges. In a prayer before the court, as published by Premium Times, an investigative newspaper based in Nigeria, the EFCC requested the freezing of four crypto wallets over terrorism financing allegations.

The ex parte application was filed on August 8th and presented to the court on August 9th. It alleged that the crypto assets contained in the wallets are proceeds of terrorism financing and money laundering. While the government claimed that the assets in the wallets amounted to approximately $37 million worth of cryptocurrency, our research team found that the actual amount of funds is higher than initially reported.

On the first address presented before the court, the total amount available in the hot wallet which belong to KuCoin is approximately $45,118,907.43, per Coinbase equivalence. The second wallet, which belongs to MEXC Global, contained approximately $281,673.16. The judge, Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, did not object to the EFCC’s request.

The third and the fourth wallet were initially shared online by an X handle 99% Oppressed, which solicited donations for its investigative journalism. The Twitter account has also received $6,300 on its GoFundMe account.

It is unclear to Today’s Gazette whether the EFCC’s accusations were specifically targeting KuCoin and MEXC Global or if there was some misunderstanding, as the two accounts in question belong to exchanges and not to individuals.

Today’s Gazette has reached out to both exchanges for clarification, but as of the time of this report, no response has been received.

Regarding 99% Oppressed, our research team investigated the platform to determine if it is registered in Nigeria. Despite its publications about Nigeria, we found that 99% Oppressed is not registered in the country.