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Nigeria’s SEC Establishes Specialist Division to Study Crypto Investments

The country’s markets regulator will oversee crypto once banks are allowed to handle it.

By Jamie Crawley
Updated May 11, 2023, 4:33 p.m. Published Sep 3, 2021, 10:53 a.m.
Credit: Shutterstock
Credit: Shutterstock

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has established a specialist fintech division to study crypto investments and plot a course for regulation of cryptocurrency.

  • The markets regulator will step in with regulations once crypto is allowed within Nigeria’s banking system, SEC Director General Lamido Yuguda said Thursday, according to a Reuters report.
  • “We are looking at this market closely to see how we can bring out regulations that will help investors protect their investment in blockchain,” Yuguda said.
  • The SEC has sought to regulate crypto assets by classifying them as securities.
  • In February, Nigeria’s central bank ordered all banks to close any accounts dealing in cryptocurrency. But that hasn’t stopped crypto from thriving in Africa’s most populous country with investors turning to peer-to-peer trading or direct payments.

Read more: How Crypto Can Help Nigeria’s Economy

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