Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is poised to begin licensing virtual asset issuers, including cryptocurrencies, as interest in digital assets intensifies within the West African country. According to Bloomberg, the SEC aims to issue its first licenses for digital services and tokenized assets within this month, as confirmed by Director-General Emomotimi Agama.
The move reflects the SEC’s response to the growing demand for cryptocurrency in Nigeria, with Agama noting, “The market size is huge and it is growing.”
Nigeria joins a global trend of regulatory oversight in the cryptocurrency sector. South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, has recently established a crypto licensing framework. Similarly, France introduced a new regulatory regime earlier this month, while the U.K. has been enforcing anti-money laundering rules for crypto firms since 2020, awaiting more tailored regulations.
Additionally, Nigeria is preparing to propose a bill by September to impose taxes on cryptocurrency transactions. In the interim, the country has initiated legal action against crypto exchange Binance for alleged tax evasion and money laundering, with one of its executives currently detained on related charges.
CoinDesk has reached out to Nigeria’s SEC for further comments.
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