An American executive with the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has appeared in court in Nigeria to plead not guilty to money laundering.

Tigran Gambaryan also denied a charge of operating without a licence at the hearing in Abuja. He’s been remanded in custody until later this month.

Mr Gambaryan was detained when he arrived in Nigeria six weeks ago. He is the head of the firm’s financial crime compliance unit.

A fellow Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who was also arrested has since fled the country.

The Nigerian authorities blame the cryptocurrency firm for undermining the national currency, the naira.