The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) says it plans to license providers of virtual assets — including cryptocurrencies — to tap opportunities and protect investors as adoption rates surge in Nigeria.
Speaking during an interview with Bloomberg, Emomotimi
Agama, SEC’s director-general, said the commission intends to issue first
licences for digital service and tokenised assets 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,”
Agama said.
“We must support the youths of this country to be able to
achieve the benefit that is accruable in fintech. The market size is huge and
it is growing.”
Agama said the SEC wants to provide a platform where people
can formerly “do these things, and we are able to get all of the information
that we need”.
“What we will not encourage is the use of cryptocurrency to
manipulate our currency,” Agama said.
In December 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lifted
the ban on cryptocurrency transactions.
Months after, the federal government clamped down on
Binance, a crypto exchange over “regulatory breaches”.
The SEC, in May, announced plans to delist naira from all
peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms — including Binance.
The commission said the decision was taken to avoid the
level of “manipulation” happening in the cryptocurrency space.
In June, Agama said Nigeria’s cryptocurrency market is worth
over $400 million.
He said the volume of crypto transactions in Nigeria would
hit $52.5 million in 2028, indicating a 12.66 percent increase between 2024 and
2028.
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