Nigeria’s SEC appears to be changing its tune on cryptocurrency.

The agency’s director has unveiled immediate plans to license exchanges in the country.

The disclosure follows plans for tax rules on the industry.

The Nigerian crypto scene has been shrouded in uncertainty in recent months amid a crackdown over claims of currency manipulation, money laundering, and terrorism financing. Among the agencies that have been at the forefront of this crackdown is the country’s SEC, whose actions have seen several leading exchanges, including Binance, OKX, and KuCoin, delist the naira from their p2p platforms, cutting off most users from their preferred crypto on and off ramps.

In a remarkable departure from this crackdown, whose tremors can still be felt by Nigerians, the country’s SEC director has praised the crypto sector’s potential while unveiling plans for the near-issuance of licenses.

Nigeria’s SEC to License Exchanges As Soon as This Month

Nigeria’s SEC is planning to license crypto asset service providers in response to the undeterred adoption of the technology by citizens, per a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, August 20. The report noted that the agency intended to start issuing these licenses as soon as this month, citing statements by Director-General Emomotimi Agama to correspondents. Sponsored

Agama, who described himself as “a crypto enthusiast,” asserted that the agency intended to ensure that the country’s highly crypto-savvy youth did not miss out on the sector’s benefits.

"Being a crypto enthusiast and fintech enthusiast, I can tell you without doubt that this [the issuance of exchange licenses] is going to happen sooner than you think. We must support the youths of this country to be able to achieve the benefit that is accruable in fintech. The market size is huge and it is growing," he stressed.

The statements mark a departure from a crackdown in February 2024, during which the country pressured leading exchanges to delist the naira while blocking user access to their platforms. 

At the same time, in March 2024, the country’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the country’s tax authority, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), charged Binance with money laundering and tax evasion, respectively, in a legal battle that has seen an exchange executive incarcerated for nearly six months. Sponsored

Meanwhile, the SEC has not been the only Nigerian agency to pivot toward regulations in recent days.

Nigeria Eyes Crypto in Tax Rules

On Saturday, August 17, FIRS Chair Zaach Adedeji reportedly disclosed that the agency is preparing a massive tax reform bill for lawmakers to consider. The regulator stressed that the bill will also introduce guidelines for cryptocurrency taxation.

The FIRS chair asserted that the agency intended to formulate crypto regulations in a manner that would not harm Nigeria’s economic progress.

"Today, we cannot run away from the cryptocurrency ecosystem because it is the in-thing. But as it stands in Nigeria today, there is no law that regulates cryptocurrency operations. We need a law that regulates that area of our economy. We will regulate it in a way that is not injurious to the economic development of Nigeria," He stated.

Read this for more on Nigeria’s crypto moves:Nigeria Mulls Crypto Regulation Amid Broader Push for Tax Law Reforms

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