In 2021, financial institutions operating in Nigeria have been the lever of a government crackdown on cryptocurrencies, beginning with February’s notorious central bank ban on lenders providing services to crypto exchanges in the country. With much of the Nigerian crypto market of necessity peer-to-peer, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) now aims to introduce regulations that could regularize the industry and offer investors better protection.
According to a Sept. 2 report, the SEC has established a dedicated fintech division tasked with studying crypto and blockchain investments and products – knowledge it could then marshal into a future crypto regulatory framework. Director General Lamido Yuguda told Reuters this week that the agency is “looking at this market closely to see how we can bring out regulations that will help investors protect their investment in blockchain."