Fejiro Hanu, CEO of Nigerian crypto exchange platform Patricia, recently took to his X account to refute rumors circulating about the exchange’s imminent closure amid its battle to scale customer fund loss.
Hanu denied the growing speculation, emphasizing that the dissemination of negative news often outpaces positive updates, leading to misconceptions about the firm’s status.
In his statement, the CEO highlighted the role of various news outlets and blogs in perpetuating clickbait headlines and misinformation, contributing to the rapid spread of the false closure narrative. He expressed dissatisfaction over how information is disseminated, extending apologies to the platform’s users while affirming his resolve not to succumb to online harassment.
A thread:
Something I want to point out is, most reporters, media houses, blogs, twitter influencers do not care about the truth.
Why? Your eyeballs, your clicks, your views — that’s the prize.
— Hanu (@Fejizzy) May 1, 2024
The exchange, touted as Nigeria’s pioneering platform of its kind, recently found itself at the center of closure rumors, despite no official announcement to that effect. Despite the government’s aggressive stance on cryptocurrencies, multiple crypto exchanges have sprung up in the country.
Notably, Patricia faced significant scrutiny last year following an admission of a $2 million customer funds loss due to an alleged security breach. The incident was later linked to former Nigerian gubernatorial candidate Wilfred Bonse.
Crypto.news reported last November that the authorities apprehended Bonse in connection with the exchange breach. Upon Bonse’s arrest, Hanu expressed relief at what he deemed vindication and directed gratitude toward the Nigerian police for their thorough investigation, hinting at a potential restoration of trust.
Despite these events, recent commentaries have alleged that the firm could actually be on the brink of complete collapse. Hanu’s public rebuttal to the closure rumors is an attempt to demonstrate the exchange’s resilience in the ongoing challenges.
In response to the incident, Ezra Olubi, the co-founder and CTO of Paystack, voiced skepticism. Speaking on X, Olubi expressed doubts about the exchange’s narrative, suggesting that its executives might have misappropriated customer assets for extravagant spending before alleging a potential hack.
it takes a lot of gall to mindlessly spend customer funds to appear larger than life, blame a “hack” that either didn’t happen, or was a result of sheer recklessness – given the lack of a postmortem, be on the brink of company collapse, then proceed to dunk on journalists.
— Ezra ‘God’ Olubi (@0x) May 1, 2024
