- SEC has granted a provisional operating license to Quidax
- Nigeria has a population of over 200 million, a chunk of which are youths interested in crypto and digital assets.
- As long as the Central Bank of Nigeria gives its approval, Quidax can now work with banks and other financial institutions
In a significant move that could begin a new era for Nigeria’s growing crypto space, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted a provisional operating license to Quidax, an indigenous crypto exchange. The license is believed to be the first license the SEC has ever issued to an indigenous crypto exchange.
In a release quoted by Cointelegraph, the SEC granted Quidax the legal rights to operate as a registered crypto exchange in the country. Experts believe this is a significant step to legitimising the trading of crypto and other digital assets in the West African country.
According to Quidax, the SEC's approval has given the Nigerian cryptocurrency community a "shot of adrenaline" that will spur on more development and innovation.
Buchi Okoro, Quidax's co-founder and CEO, commended the SEC for taking decisive action to instill confidence, order, and investor protection in the Nigerian cryptocurrency market, especially under the new leadership of Emomotimi Agama.
Nigeria has a population of over 200 million, a chunk of which are youths interested in crypto and digital assets. The country has one of the largest crypto spaces in the world, despite the government clamping down on traders and crypto holders.
Experts say the next step after this significant move should be to develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency trading and crypto exchanges operating in the country.
As long as the Central Bank of Nigeria gives its approval, Quidax can now work with banks and other financial institutions. The SEC's licensing comes after a thorough revision to its regulations on June 21, which addressed the issuance, offering platforms, exchange, and custody of digital assets.
The Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP), which aims to assist virtual assets service providers (VASPs) in complying with new regulatory requirements, is a noteworthy component of this regulatory overhaul.
Even with these developments, there was initially worry that the strict licensing requirements would result in a sharp decline in the number of regional cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to the SEC's proposed rules for regulating the sector in Nigeria, both digital asset exchanges and offering platforms must have a current Fidelity Insurance Bond covering at least 25% of the specified minimum paid-up capital and a minimum upfront capital requirement of N500 million ($556,620).
How crypto scammers stole $55 million from trader via phishing
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that a crypto trader has lost $55.47 million in DAI stablecoin to fraudsters via a phishing attack. This is according to the blockchain security platform Scam Sniffer.
In a post on X, the anti-scam firm said the trader lost the asset after they misappropriatedly transferred ownership of their collateralized debt position (CDP) on DeFi Saver Proxy—a proxy contract created by the DAI stablecoin's issuer to help traders manage their collateralized debt positions (CDPs)—to a malicious wallet.
