The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking to raise the registration fee for crypto exchanges in the country, as part of proposed amendments to the rules guiding platforms offering crypto services.
The SEC has suggested an increase in the registration fee from N30 million to N150 million, a significant jump that has raised concerns among industry stakeholders.
Under the updated guidelines, digital asset exchanges and custodians will now be required to pay an application fee of N300,000, up from the previous N100,000. Additionally, the processing fee has surged from N300,000 to N1 million, and the registration fee has spiked by 400 percent, from N30 million to N150 million.
The SEC stated that these proposed changes were made to provide clarity and incorporate suggestions from industry stakeholders, particularly in light of recent engagements with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Nigeria has seen significant growth in its crypto economy in recent years, becoming one of the fastest-growing crypto economies in the world. The country was also named the second-biggest economy in terms of crypto adoption in 2023 and the most crypto-obsessed country in the world based on Google searches for “cryptocurrency” or “buy crypto.”
