The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed higher capital and registration requirements for cryptocurrency and other digital asset businesses, with some operators required to maintain up to N2 billion in minimum capital.
Under the proposed Rules on Digital and Virtual Asset Operations, Custody and Markets, Digital Asset Exchanges (DAXs) and Digital Asset Custodians (DACs) would each require minimum capital of N2 billion.
while Digital Asset Platform Operators (DAPOs), Digital Asset Offering Platforms (DAOPs) and Real World Asset Tokenisation Platforms (RATOPs) would require N500 million each.
Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) would have a minimum capital requirement of N200 million.
The SEC also proposed a N30 million registration fee for each of the five categories of operators, alongside a N100,000 processing fee and N300,000 application fee.
The new requirements form part of the Commission’s broader effort to strengthen prudential, operational and governance standards across Nigeria’s digital asset market.
Under the proposed framework, regulated entities would also be required to maintain a fidelity insurance bond covering at least 25 per cent of their minimum paid-up capital.
The SEC further proposed supervisory charges based on the turnover of regulated entities. DAXs operating under the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP) would pay 0.015 per cent of adjusted turnover, while other entities under ARIP would pay 0.0075 per cent.
Following full registration, the supervisory fee would rise to 0.025 per cent of adjusted turnover for DAXs and 0.015 per cent for other regulated entities.
Companies seeking admission into ARIP would also be required to pay a N200,000 initial assessment fee and N2 million ARIP application fee.
The proposed framework further tightens local operating requirements, stipulating that entities seeking registration must be incorporated in Nigeria, unless otherwise approved by the SEC, maintain a registered office in the country and have their chief executive officer, managing director or equivalent principal officer resident in Nigeria.
The Commission stated that no person would be permitted to conduct digital or virtual asset business or activities in Nigeria, or target persons resident in the country, without being registered, approved or authorised by the SEC.
Foreign stablecoin issuers seeking recognition to operate in Nigeria would also be required to appoint or maintain a local representative, demonstrate authorisation in an acceptable foreign jurisdiction and comply with Nigeria-specific reserve, liquidity and redemption requirements that may be prescribed by the Commission.
The framework comes amid a broader push by the Federal Government to establish a more comprehensive regulatory and tax regime for the digital asset industry.
President Bola Tinubu recently signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, establishing a framework for coordinating the regulation of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokenised assets and other digital assets across government agencies.
The Nigeria Revenue Service has also issued guidelines on the taxation of virtual assets covering companies, individual taxpayers, VASPs, peer-to-peer marketplace operators and other participants in the sector.
The SEC has meanwhile continued to admit digital asset operators into its regulatory sandbox, with three additional VASPs recently cleared for admission into ARIP, bringing the number of crypto firms under the regulatory programme to 14.
The proposed rules are expected to further formalise Nigeria’s digital asset market while raising the financial and compliance threshold for operators seeking to participate in the sector.
