Nigeria’s SEC wants to raise crypto exchange registration fees

Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed an amendment to the rules governing platforms that offer crypto services, proposing to raise registration fees for crypto exchanges from 30 million naira ($18,620) to 150 million naira ($93,000).

On the amendment, the SEC said the proposed changes were made to ensure transparency and incorporate input from industry stakeholders, “especially with regard to the recent relationship with the CBN. [Central Bank of Nigeria]He said. Nigeria's SEC issued rules and regulations for all crypto and digital asset service providers for the first time in May 2022, but on Friday, March 15, 2024, proposed an amendment to the rules.

Under the updated guidelines, digital asset exchanges, digital asset delivery platforms and digital asset custodians will be required to pay an application fee of 300,000 naira ($186), up from the previous 100,000 naira ($62).

The processing fee has also increased from 300,000 naira ($186) to 1 million naira ($620). Similarly, the registration fee increased by 400%, from 30 million naira ($18,620) to 150 million naira ($93,102).

Another proposed change involves changing the rules and regulations from the “Export, Platforms and Preservation of Digital Assets” rules and regulations to the “Rules of Provision, Platform Provision, Exchange and Protection of Digital Assets”.

The SEC stated that these amendments are intended to enhance transparency and include input from industry stakeholders. In addition, they reflect insights from recent discussions with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Related: Nigeria's crypto community divided over government bid for Binance user data

Although the SEC attributed the proposed changes to input from industry stakeholders, some criticized the 500 million naira ($310,343) paid-up capital requirement. They argue that this high fee will primarily harm foreign firms and domestic entities.

Nigeria has emerged as one of the fastest growing crypto economies in the world over the past few years. It was the second largest economy in the world in terms of crypto adoption by 2023. Number of Google searches for “cryptocurrency” or “buy crypto” in Nigeria in August 2022. “

According to the Financial Times, Nigeria will abandon its years-long currency peg and allow the naira to trade freely by June 2023. Then the country faced high inflation. In the year Nigeria's consumer price inflation rose to about 30% for the 13th consecutive month in January 2024, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

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