Nigeria issues new guidelines on cryptocurrencies

Capital market regulator published a set of regulations for digital assets, signalling the country is trying to find a middle ground between an outright ban on cryptoassets and their unregulated use.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published the “New Rules on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets” on its website yesterday. The 54-page document lays out registration requirements for digital assets offerings and custodians and classifies the assets as securities regulated by the SEC.

According to the SEC, no digital assets exchange would be allowed to facilitate the trading of assets unless it had received a”no objection” ruling from the commission.

A digital assets exchange will be required to pay N30 million ($72,289) as a registration fee, among other fees. The Central Bank of Nigeria had last year banned banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in digital currencies.

However, Nigeria’s young, tech-savvy population eagerly adopted cryptocurrencies, for instance, using peer-to-peer trading offered by crypto exchanges to avoid the sector ban.

In October, Nigeria launched a digital currency, the eNaira, in the hope of expanding access to banking. Official digital currencies, unlike cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, are backed and controlled by the central bank. (Courtesy Sunday Telegraph, text excluding headline)