Eowyn Chen, the Chief Executive Officer of digital asset self-custody platform Trust Wallet, has described the detention of Tigran Gambaryan, the head of financial crime compliance at cryptocurrency exchange Binance, as a "crisis." Chen made this statement in a post on March 31.
"Tigran Gambaryan's detention in Nigeria is a crisis, not just a headline about Binance," said Chen, according to X. "His family's plea to #BringTigranHome is our call to uphold justice, safety, and global rights. Today it's Tigran, tomorrow it could be any of us."
According to CoinTelegraph, Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, arrived in Nigeria on Feb. 25 for a meeting with government officials. Shortly after his arrival, Gambaryan and his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla, a Binance regional manager for Africa who holds British and Kenyan citizenships, were detained and their passports confiscated. Reportedly, Anjarwalla has escaped while Gambaryan remains detained and is now suing the Nigerian government for violating his human rights. He claims that his detention is being used "as a means to exert pressure and persist in making requests to Binance."
The Chamber of Digital Commerce, a trade association focused on digital assets and blockchain technology, posted on its website that Gambaryan "appears to have been invited to Nigeria under false pretenses, only to be arrested on February 26, 2024, without any charges except for his current employment for Binance." The chamber urged President Joe Biden to intervene to secure Gambaryan's release. "Tigran Gambaryan’s detainment under such dubious circumstances sets a dangerous precedent," the Chamber stated. It added that it signals vulnerability for American businessmen abroad—particularly those in the cryptocurrency sector—to similar unlawful actions by foreign governments.
According to Binance's website, Gambaryan joined the company in 2021 as Vice President of Global Intelligence and Investigations. Prior to this role at Binance, he spent ten years as a special agent of the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Cyber Crimes Unit in Washington, D.C. During his tenure with the IRS, Gambaryan led several multi-billion dollar cyber investigations, including those into Silk Road and the Mt. Gox hack.
Before her appointment as CEO of Trust Wallet, Chen was employed at Binance, according to LinkedIn. Her roles included assistant to the chief marketing officer and head of central marketing and growth. She was recently featured in BeInCrypto's list of Influential Women in Crypto 2024.
