Nigerian crypto fee increase invitation to crypto ‘big boys’ – NoOnes CEO

Venture capitalists see potential in Nigeria despite the proposed increase in crypto registration fees. However, the service may struggle to gain momentum due to government restrictions on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms designed to stifle free market promotion, said Ray Youssef, CEO of Noones Financial Communications and P2P Apps.

A recent report by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed amendments to the rules governing platforms that offer crypto services and proposed to increase registration fees for crypto exchanges from 30 million naira ($18,620) to 150 million naira ($93,000).

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Youssef, co-founder and former CEO of the closed P2P exchange Paxful, said the increase is an invitation to crypto “big boys” like Coinbase and other major companies to operate in the Nigerian market. He emphasized that the government aims to restrict P2P services to address foreign exchange challenges and that exchanges willing to drop P2P support can operate smoothly in Nigeria.

However, this strategy conflicts with the Nigerian crypto market's strong preference for P2P trading, which poses a major obstacle to the exchange. However, Yusuf is optimistic about Nigeria's chances of maintaining its place in the ecosystem despite recent regulatory challenges.

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According to Yusuf, the government can use the number of P2P merchants in Nigeria as an asset and engage crypto stakeholders as partners to understand how crypto can be used for the benefit of the country's economy.

Nigeria is currently the largest P2P crypto market in the world, which comes after the Central Bank of Nigeria banned institutions from buying and selling cryptocurrencies in 2021. In December 2023, the Nigerian government lifted the 2021 crypto ban, allowing crypto exchanges to apply. Licenses in Nigeria.

Commenting on the recent partnership between Gluwa and the Nigerian government to improve the adoption of the country's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBCC), Yusuf said the government could have taken a different approach when it introduced CBDC to stimulate the local economy. Development, giving thanks to great entrepreneurs and encouraging the younger generation to embrace it.

The Nigerian government has often clashed with cryptocurrency exchanges. Binance stopped using naira on March 8 after the Nigerian government's criticism of crypto exchanges was highlighted in February. In the year In August 2022, Nigeria was named the most depressed country in the world by the number of searches for “cryptocurrency” or “crypto buy” by Google.

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