Link copied LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that it is processing applications for digital exchanges on a trial basis in a bid to expand market participation in the country. The move comes as Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and has seen increased cryptocurrency transactions on peer-to-peer platforms outside the US. However, trading in cryptocurrencies is restricted by the central bank.
Abdulkadir Abbas, the head of securities and investment services at the SEC, said that the commission is considering allowing tokenized coin offerings on licensed digital exchanges that are backed by assets such as equity, debt, and property. The move may entice tech-savvy individuals in the country to invest in local assets, including equities, which have been neglected for years, according to Bloomberg.
Abbas claimed that the SEC will register fintech companies as digital sub-brokers, crowdfunding intermediaries, robo-advisors, fund managers, and tokenized coins issuers. In addition, the commission will not register crypto exchanges until an agreement on standards has been reached with the central bank.
Digital exchanges will undergo a year of "regulatory incubation," during which they will offer only skeletal services monitored by the SEC to study the pattern of their operations and fitness to render services in the country. By the 10th month, the SEC should be able to determine whether to register the company, extend the incubation period, or even ask the firm to cease operations.
Meanwhile, other nations are also experimenting with similar tokens. In Singapore, a project called "Project Guardian" was launched last year to investigate potential uses of asset tokenization. The project is led by DBS Bank Ltd., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Marketnode Pte and involves the creation of a permissioned liquidity pool consisting of tokenized bonds and deposits.
