United States President Joe Biden thanked his Nigerian counterpart Bola Tinubu for playing a crucial role in securing the release of a Binance employee jailed until days ago in the African nation, during a phone call on Tuesday between the world leaders. 

Biden credited Tinubu’s leadership as essential to securing the release of Tigran Gambaryan from Nigerian custody on humanitarian grounds, according to a statement from the White House that recounted the main themes of the call.

Last week, Gambaryan was released from a prison in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, after over eight months of incarceration. The Binance executive, an American citizen who lives outside of Atlanta, was initially detained in February after flying to Nigeria to negotiate with local authorities regarding an impending crypto crackdown.

Gambaryan was soon charged with money laundering and facilitating the operation of an unlicensed financial institution. In the following months, his health reportedly deteriorated considerably. Gambaryan’s family said that while incarcerated, he suffered a herniated disk, malaria, and recurrent throat infections. The Nigerian government repeatedly refuted these claims, and insisted that the American crypto executive was doing “fine.” 

Finally, after months of slowly escalating diplomatic appeals from several members of Congress—two of whom flew to Nigeria to visit Gambaryan in prison—Nigerian prosecutors abruptly dropped their charges against the Binance employee last week. A day later, he flew home.

The very same day that Gambaryan’s release was secured, the U.S. Department of State announced it would, in partnership with the government of Nigeria, launch a Bilateral Liaison Group on Illicit Finance and Cryptocurrencies.  

On Tuesday, during his call with President Tinubu, Biden reportedly expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s willingness to collaborate on law enforcement initiatives, including the new crypto task force.

Edited by Andrew Hayward