SEC, CBN to release guidelines for crypto operators

guardian.ng:

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have concluded plans to offer guidelines for Cryptocurrency operators in the country.

The new set of guidelines issued by SEC and the CBN will regulate the licensing, registration and screening of digital and virtual assets service providers (VASPs).

SEC in a notice dated March 4, 2024 said the new measures would ensure that “criminals are not registered as operators” in the capital market.

According to the CBN, VASPs are entities that carry out exchanges between virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) and fiat currencies, as well as the transfer of virtual assets.

The CBN had prohibited Nigerian banks from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions and ordered the closure of all accounts linked to crypto exchanges.

The CBN lifted the ban in December. Weeks after, the government began an intense scrutinisation of crypto exchanges and their roles in the sliding value of the naira.

While lifting the ban, CBN issued operational guidelines on VASPs to all banks and other financial institutions.

According to a statement by the CBN, the new guidelines are meant to serve as additional rules and regulations to the already existing ones.

“In September 2020, the Commission released its treatment and classification of digital assets where it specified its regulatory purview over Crypto tokens traded on a recognised exchange, Utility tokens traded on a recognized exchange, security tokens that have features of securities and funds and derivatives of these three types of tokens” the communique read.

“SEC outlined the existing guidelines issued in May 2022 to include; general requirements for VASPs, issuance of digital assets as securities, digital assets