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

Sep 3, 2021 at 10:53 a.m. UTC

Updated Sep 3, 2021 at 2:39 p.m. UTC

Lagos, Nigeria (Tayvay/Shutterstock) — Credit: Shutterstock

Jamie Crawley

Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.

Follow @JamieCrawleyCD on Twitter

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.

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