The Federal Government, in a move to curb the manipulation of exchange rates and crack down on dollar racketeering, via the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced its intentions to delist the naira from all peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency platforms.
This development intensifies the government’s ongoing efforts to regulate Nigeria’s burgeoning cryptocurrency market, valued at an estimated $57 billion.
The announcement was made by Emomotimi Agama, the newly-appointed Director-General of the SEC, during a strategic meeting held on Monday with members of the Nigerian blockchain community.
The gathering, organized by the Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee of Nigeria, aimed to forge a path forward amidst the growing regulatory scrutiny.
Director-General Agama articulated that the government’s primary concern has been the alleged use of P2P platforms by crypto operators to manipulate the naira’s value against other major currencies.
“This step is part of our broader strategy to ensure a stable economic environment, free from the volatilities induced by unregulated financial activities,” Agama explained.
Further, Agama confirmed that the government is in the process of drafting a new set of robust regulations tailored specifically for the crypto sector.
These regulations aim to establish a more controlled framework, ensuring that the benefits of digital currencies are balanced against the economic risks they pose.
“That is one of the things that must be done to save this space; the delisting of the naira from the P2P platforms to avoid the level of manipulation that is currently happening. I want your cooperation in dealing with this as we roll out regulations in the coming days,” the SEC DG told the members of the local crypto community.
Agama’s announcement came barely a week after the Central Bank of Nigeria instructed payment service banks to caution their customers against engaging in crypto transactions.
Some local exchanges in the country, such as OKX, Bitbarter and some platforms under the membership of Stakeholders in the Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria had already stopped naira services in solidarity with the government.
In March, SiBAN sought collaboration with the Federal Government for proper regulation after developing the Virtual Assets Service Providers Code of Conduct in 2022.
However, the SEC DG urged members of the crypto community in Nigeria to “name and shame” the players involved in the manipulation of the naira.
He maintained that some bad players in the industry were manipulating the national currency, an act that the government was determined to deal with.
Agama said, “We ask with all sense of sincerity that those involved in sharp practices cease. We encourage you to reach out to us by naming and shaming those involved.
“This nation has a future, and this future is dependent on this community. For us at the SEC, our interest is to provide an enabling environment for fintech to thrive, and by so doing; we expect the fintech community to reciprocate by doing the right thing.
“Patriotism can never be wished away. Whatever we do that would bring dishonor to our country, we must try to avoid it. What is very critical and has brought about this meeting are the concerns regarding crypto P2P traders and their effect on the naira.”
He maintained that the SEC under his watch was poised for an innovative digital asset regulatory regime that would sustain Nigeria as Africa’s digital asset powerhouse with diverse solutions like real-world asset tokenization.
This, according to him, will drive wealth and catalyse the country’s capital market.
He said, “We must explore innovative solutions to this problem and strike the right balance between encouraging innovation and safeguarding our national economic interests. This we will do in a friendly and firm manner to enable us to achieve the desired result.
“On that note, I want to emphasise that we are working on different fronts to sustain decent practices within our market. However, we are here to meet ourselves to know those playing within the sector decently and are open to hearing your suggestions on how we can effectively manage all obscure cryptocurrency trading activities within our jurisdiction, P2P inclusive, irrespective of the challenge we all know that P2P trading poses.”
