Nigeria introduces new rules for cryptocurrency

Nigeria wants more clarity on digital currency trading. That is why the country has released new rules for crypto. Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission published “rules on the issuance, platform offering and custody of digital assets” for virtual technologies, the commission said on its website.

Second-largest trading volume

These rules apply to digital assets regulated by the SEC. By providing more clarity on these rules, it could increase trade in the country, according to Bloomberg. It might be better to say: increase even more.

Nigeria is responsible for the second-largest crypto trading volume in the world, according to Bloomberg. “Nigeria accounts for the largest volume of cryptocurrency transactions outside the US,” the article reads. The only dubious thing about this statement is that the news platform quotes another platform, without citing a link to the source.

SEC wants to ‘protect investors’

Nigeria banned crypto transactions from financial institutions last year, which could also affect the numbers Bloomberg is referencing. You wouldn’t expect it, but banks don’t have it easy with this choice. The country’s central bank has imposed huge fines on four banks for failing to monitor these transactions completely.

The Nigerian SEC said last year it would try to protect investors and make the market more transparent. “The regulation could act as the precursor for a surprise move by the central bank to reverse its approach, laying a critical foundation for mass crypto adoption across the country,” Owen Odia of cryptocurrency exchange Luno said in an email to Bloomberg.

So these are probably the rules the SEC was talking about at the time. It is questionable whether this would actually help, but it takes a little patience.