SEC Nigeria to Issue License to Crypto Exchanges as Adoption Surges

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria has stated its intentions to regulate issuers of virtual assets in the country. According to a Bloomberg report, the regulator is set to issue licenses to cryptocurrency operators in the country.

The move comes as the adoption of cryptocurrencies has grown exponentially in Nigeria and West Africa. The SEC Nigeria Director-General, Emomotimi Agama, also saw the sector as an opportunity that the country could tap into.

“The (cryptocurrency) market size is huge, and it is growing,” Agama said, pointing to the surging usage of cryptocurrencies in the country.

SEC Wants to Make Crypto Official

Agama stated that despite the ban on banks processing cryptocurrency transactions, Nigerian users have turned to alternative means to access the digital asset. Data from Chainalysis showed increased digital asset usage in Nigeria, with a 9% increment to $56.7 billion in June 2023.

The Abuja-based regulator intends to legalize the use of cryptocurrencies so that tech-savvy Nigerians can have uninterrupted access to them. It plans to issue licenses to crypto firms as early as this month.

“Being a crypto enthusiast and fintech enthusiast, I can tell you without doubt that this is going to happen sooner than you think. We must support the youths of this country to be able to achieve the benefit that is accruable to fintech,” Agama stated.

The Director-General, however, stated that it would not encourage using digital assets to manipulate Nigeria’s currency. The country banned Binance and disallowed Nigerians access to sites of major crypto exchanges owing to speculation that they were causing the naira to weaken against other foreign currencies.

Nigeria seems to be making considerable progress in allowing the use of cryptocurrencies. On Monday, the country proposed a bill to start tasking crypto firms operating in the region.

The West African country joins a host of other states in Africa and beyond to regulate cryptocurrency. South Africa and France have recently introduced regimes to license virtual asset issuers in their countries.