Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted an Approval-in-Principle to two cryptocurrency exchanges, Quidax and Busha, marking them as legally recognised crypto trading platforms in the country.
This approval was issued under the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP), a strategic initiative by the SEC to onboard firms that began operations before the establishment of the Rules on Virtual Asset Service Providers in May 2022.
In addition to these approvals, the SEC admitted four digital asset offering platforms—Trovotech Ltd, Wrapped CBDC Ltd, Dream City Capital, and HousingExchange.NG Ltd—into its Regulatory Incubation (RI) Program.
This program allows these firms to test their business models and innovative technologies under close supervision.
The SEC emphasised that these Approvals-in-Principle are precursors to full registration and that only approved platforms are legally authorised to conduct crypto trading in Nigeria.
The public is advised to avoid dealing with unapproved operators.
This development is a significant step in regulating Nigeria’s burgeoning cryptocurrency market, which has faced challenges due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) restrictive policies.
Despite these challenges, Nigeria remains one of the leading countries in global crypto trading, highlighting the importance of a regulated framework for the industry.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
