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The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted “approval-in-principle” to Busha Digital and Quidax Technologies, the first digital asset exchanges to operate in the country. Additionally, four digital asset offering platforms and one custodian have been admitted to the regulatory incubation program to test their technology. The SEC has cautioned the Nigerian public to avoid dealing with unauthorized entities and advised investors to verify the legitimacy of service providers on its official portals.
The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Aug. 29 that it had granted “approval in principle” to two digital asset exchanges to begin operations. Busha Digital Limited and Quidax Technologies Limited are the first to receive this nod under the SEC Nigeria’s Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP).
The regulator also revealed that five firms have been admitted to test their models and technology under its Regulatory Incubation (RI) program. Four of these firms – Trovotech Ltd, Wrapped CBDC Ltd, Housingexhange.NG Ltd, and Dream City Capital – are identified as digital asset offering platforms. Blockvault Custodian Ltd is the only entity admitted as a digital asset custodian.
As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, the Nigerian regulator launched ARIP to expedite the onboarding of entities that submitted license applications. Successful applicants receive provisional approval to commence or continue operating while waiting for digital asset regulations to take effect.
In its latest statement, the SEC said the ARIP and RI program participants are primarily characterized by their use of distributed ledger technology.
“The current cohort of the ARIP and the RI Program is characterized by the increased use of distributed ledger technology [“DLT”] in creating and trading crypto assets. The outcome of the process would inform further policy development in this space. Tests would be conducted on a short-term and small-scale basis and the SEC would continue to work with the participating firms to agree on testing parameters as well as robust consumer safeguards,” the SEC Nigeria said.
The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it is currently assessing other digital asset exchange applications and will grant similar approval to those that meet all SEC requirements.
The regulator also cautioned the Nigerian public to avoid dealing with entities that have not applied for or received its approval. Investors are advised to verify on the SEC’s portals whether entities claiming to provide investment services are legally authorized to do so.
