Brief: Nigerian lawmakers push for crypto regulation

Nigeria’s Senate Committee on Capital Markets on Monday called for the regulation of cryptocurrency operations in the country to ensure accountability and investor protection.

What was said?

The Committee’s chairman, Sen. Osita Izunaso, reportedly said:

“The issue of cryptocurrency must be regulated because Nigerians are trading in crypto. Since Nigerians are trading in crypto, why are we not regulating it? Where is the money going if we don’t regulate activities in the crypto market?

“You can’t stop them from trading in the crypto market. So because we can’t stop them, you have to regulate it.”

Where

The comments were made during a press briefing after a closed-door screening of Dr. Emomotimi Agama, the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, along with three other executive commissioners.

Dive deeper

These comments come amidst a topsy-turvy crypto regulatory environment in the West African country.

• In December 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reversed a three-year restriction on financial institutions regarding doing business with cryptocurrency entities. It brought widespread optimism that the country’s government is finally warming up to cryptocurrencies.
• However, this excitement was short-lived. The country’s foreign exchange (FX) troubles, marked by speculation that weakened the naira, prompted the CBN to collaborate with other government agencies in a crackdown on unofficial FX marketplaces, like peer-to-peer exchanges.
• Crypto giant Binance has become a prime target in the Nigerian government’s P2P crackdown. Two of the company’s officials were arrested in February as part of an investigation of the cryptocurrency exchange. One of the officials has reportedly escaped from custody. The other official, Tigran Gambaryan, remains in custody.