Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a ₦30 million registration fee and minimum capital requirements of up to ₦2 billion for some digital and virtual asset operators under a new draft regulatory framework for the sector.
The proposed rules, published by the SEC on August 20, would apply to digital and virtual asset activities constituting investment and securities business in Nigeria, including issuance, tokenisation, trading, custody, transfer and settlement. The framework would also cover firms serving Nigerian residents or targeting Nigerian investors through digital channels.
Under the proposal, Digital Asset Exchanges and Digital Asset Custodians would each be required to maintain minimum capital of ₦2 billion. Digital Asset Platform Operators, Digital Asset Offering Platforms and Real-World Asset Tokenisation and Offering Platforms would each require ₦500 million, while Virtual Asset Service Providers would require ₦200 million.
The SEC also proposed a ₦30 million registration fee for Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Custodians, Digital Asset Platform Operators, Digital Asset Offering Platforms and Real-World Asset Tokenisation and Offering Platforms.
Applicants would also pay a ₦100,000 processing fee and a ₦300,000 application fee under the proposed framework. Regulated entities would be required to maintain a fidelity insurance bond covering at least 25 per cent of their minimum paid-up capital.
The proposal would introduce ongoing supervisory charges based on operators’ adjusted turnover. Fully registered digital asset exchanges would pay 0.025 per cent, while other regulated entities would pay 0.015 per cent.
Operators admitted into the SEC’s Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme would face lower proposed rates, with digital asset exchanges paying 0.015 per cent of adjusted turnover and other entities paying 0.0075 per cent.
The SEC has also proposed limits on retail participation in digital asset offerings. Under the draft rules, a retail investor would be restricted to investing no more than ₦1 million in a single issuer and no more than ₦10 million across digital asset offerings within a 12-month period, subject to changes the commission may prescribe.
The new proposal comes as the commission continues to expand its oversight of Nigeria’s digital asset market. Earlier this month, the SEC cleared three additional Virtual Asset Service Providers for admission into its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme, giving them approval in principle to operate within the programme’s defined scope, subject to regulatory conditions.
The proposed rules are not yet final. The SEC has given stakeholders two weeks from the date of publication to submit comments before the framework moves through the rest of the regulatory process.