Chop chop, time's ticking! Drop everything and fill out some paperwork on Nigeria’s SEC ePortal to get registered as a virtual assets provider. Just in case you are a cryptocurrency company.
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Here’s what we got for you today:
- Nigeria’s SEC demands all crypto firms to register
- The country is in 2nd position on the global crypto adoption index
- Central Bank of Nigeria banned crypto in 2021, and now the commission is seeking better oversight and compliance
If you are a cryptocurrency company serving customers in Nigeria, you have only 30 days to register with the nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission. Companies that fail to meet this demand will force the commission to take legal action.
The move is part of Nigeria’s plans to provide a regulatory framework for digital assets trading by amending existing compliance requirements for digital assets platforms, issuance, exchanges, and custody.
Applications to Be Submitted on ePortal
A section of the commission's statement read that all operating and prospective Virtual Assets Providers (VASPs) must complete and submit their applications on the SEC ePortal.
The West African nation prohibited cryptocurrency trading as early as 2022 when it ranked 11th on the Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index. Despite the ban by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the nation’s cryptocurrency community continued to thrive, jumping to second place on the same index in 2023.
Recap of Nigeria SEC vs Binance Exchange
This announcement comes one year after the commission released a circular mentioning crypto exchange company Binance as a fraudulent entity that offers extremely risky assets that could result in total loss of one’s investment. The move did not come as a surprise to many since the CBN had already grown skeptical around digital assets and issued a ban almost two years before the circular.
Since then, authorities in the most populous African country have accused digital assets exchanges like Binance of being instruments of money laundering and foreign exchange manipulation.
The Rise of Nigeria’s Memecoin Frenzy Draws Suspicious Eyes From Authorities
Only recently, the commission warned against Afrobeats star Davido's meme coin, DAVIDO. The meme coin gained significant traction after launching with it market capitalization hitting $10 million within 48-hours, however, the value dropped by 97% drawing suspicions of being a pump-and-dump coin. While most of the hodlers of the coin perceived $DAVIDO as a rug pull, there are those who said the sell-off could not be termed as a scam.
More Info on Crypto and Regulations:
- The Impact of Political Events on Crypto Market
- Trump-Labeled Wallet Turns Meme Token into Million-Dollar Goldmine
- Biden Administration Takes Crypto Course to Avoid Election Loss
Nigeria’s SEC is already investing in tokenization and hopes to pilot a program for permissioned liquidity pools where investors will diversify their portfolios through tokenized bonds. The commission emphasized that its current push for compliance is in line with the financial market’s current realities.
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