Seven cryptocurrency firms have been granted an ‘Approval-in-Principle”, according to the Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These cryptocurrency organizations include Quidax Technologies Company and Busha Digital Limited, according to a statement posted on the SEC’s website on Thursday. The regulator in charge of capital market registration and operations announced that two digital asset exchanges have been granted “Approval-in-Principle” to begin operations under the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP). In addition, five companies have been approved to test their ideas and technology through the SEC’s Regulatory Incubation (RI) Program.
Notably, despite the long-standing ban on big crypto exchanges such as Binance and OKX, the SEC’s new Director-General, Emomotimi Agama, has expressed a readiness to engage with local crypto startups. Recall that last week, the SEC chairman suggested in a conversation with Bloomberg that crypto businesses’ licensing may come sooner than expected.
SEC grants licenses to Quidax, Busha, and other Cryptocurrency Exchange
In June, the SEC launched ARIP to onboard enterprises that had begun operations before the Rules on Virtual Asset Service Providers were released in May 2022. The RI Program, on the other hand, was designed to evaluate Digital Assets companies’ business models. According to the agency, these approvals align with its aim to foster innovation that will broaden the capital market while protecting investors. Busha Digital Limited and Quidax Technologies Limited, two digital asset exchanges, have received “Approval-in-Principle” to begin operations under ARIP.
On the other hand, five companies – Trovotech Ltd, Wrapped CBDC Ltd, Housing Exchange.NG Ltd, Dream City Capital, and Blockvault Custodian Ltd (all Digital Assets Offering Platforms except BlockVault, which is a Digital Asset Custodian) – have been approved to test their models and technology under the SEC’s RI Program.
The SEC explained that the Approvals-in-Principle are a precursor to the SEC’s approval of full registration and are intended to verify that proper protection and transparency are in place for each product or service. Additionally, the conclusion of the exercise would affect future policy development in this area.
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 statement said.
Importantly, the SEC emphasized that only approved digital exchanges and platforms are legally permitted to conduct cryptocurrency trading in any form in Nigeria.
