Economy
Investors’ Protection Made us to Regulate Cryptocurrency in Nigeria—SEC
By Dipo Olowookere
A few days ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced some rules to guide the use of cryptocurrency in Nigeria.
The decision by the apex capital market regulatory agency to regulate cryptocurrency in the country was applauded by many, who have yearned for this for a very long time.
For clarification sake, a cryptocurrency is a digital asset used as a form of exchange for goods and services. It can also be called a virtual currency, which is not controlled by any central bank.
SEC, in its Statement on Digital Assets and their Classification and Treatment, said cryptocurrency can be issued in Nigeria, but with specific guidelines.
Explaining why the guidelines were put in place, the Head of Registration, Exchanges, Market Infrastructure and Innovation at SEC, Mr Emomotimi Agama, stated that “the first thing the SEC bothers about is investor protection.”
According to him, “This is no different from what we have been doing. We are looking at investor protection, integrity, transparency and of course we want to make sure that the market is safe and everyone is comfortable with what is going on in the investment climate.”
Mr Agama noted that last year, the commission launched the Fintech roadmap and after that was done, it went ahead to set up the blockchain virtual financial assets committee.
“These committees are both market-wide and principally done to engage the market, to be able to have discussions with the market and get their buy-in into what we are doing,” he said.
“What we found out today is that a lot of persons, youths are all involved in this space and it is important that even as far as that is the case, the SEC lives up to the expectations and making sure that those people that are getting into the business are protected,” he explained.
“Clearly, that is our aim and the market is part of this and indeed the feedback has been wonderful. People are happy with what we are doing, being able to provide some clarity as to where we stand in terms of digital assets regulation,” Mr Agama added.
“Digital assets are the next thing, our idea is not to stifle innovation, but to promote innovation within a reasonable space and that is exactly what we are doing. Section 13 of the ISA empowers us to do this and so we are doing what we have been empowered to do by law,” the SEC executive noted.
On what internal capacities the SEC is developing to meet the challenges of this fast-changing digital financial world, Mr Agama said “the SEC is a knowledge-based institution and before we come out of this kind of initiatives, we would have done so much research.
“I need to tell you that the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance has been partnering with the SEC and up to this point, we have been engaging with them and several of our staff have been part of their programmes.
“The World Bank and other institutions are also working with us on Fintech to see that the Nigerian landscape is not left barren but guided with basic principles, we will not leave any stone unturned, but ensure that everyone within the SEC that has the responsibility to guiding investors and the populace in making sure we have an investment environment that people will be proud of is provided.
“Capacity building is a continuous exercise, we will continue to upgrade ourselves, we will continue to learn because knowledge is for life”.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a mixed outcome on Wednesday, January 15 after it welcome a new entrant.
Paintcom Investment Nigeria Plc joined the OTC securities exchange yesterday with shares admitted at a unit price of N10.72 and a market capitalisation of N8.5 billion.
However, when trading activities closed for the session, the alternative stock exchange went down by 0.10 per cent, with the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciating by 3.03 points to 3,093.16 points from the 3,096.19 points recorded in the previous session.
But the value of the trading platform increased by 0.7 per cent or N7.54 billion to settle at N1.068 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.061 trillion.
The volume of securities traded in the session went down by 83.2 per cent to 666,494 units from the 3.97 million units recorded in the preceding session, while the value of shares traded during the session jumped by 98.2 per cent to N16.5 million from N8.3 million, with the number of deals going down by 20 per cent to 20 deals from 25 deals.
Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 3 Kobo to close at 30 Kobo per share versus 27 Kobo per share, Mixta Real Estate Plc increased by 23 Kobo to N2.58 per unit from N2.35 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N1.15 to settle at N23.20 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N22.15 per share.
Further, Afriland Properties Plc grew by 75 Kobo to N16.25 per unit from N15.50 per unit and Geo-Fluids Plc expanded by 13 Kobo to N4.79 per share from N4.66 per share.
On the flip side, 11 Plc fell by N27.74 to close at N253.10 per unit compared with the previous session’s N280.84 per unit and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost 55 Kobo to finish at N38.95 per share versus N39.50 per share.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 690,825 sold for N11.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 23.5 million units sold for N5.3 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated on the American currency in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, January 15 by 0.09 per cent or N1.45 to close at N1,551.10/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,549.65/$1.
It was the fourth straight session the local currency was losing value on the greenback in the official forex market as the deadline to end the access of Bureaux De Change (BDCs) to the official trading platform nears.
Also, Nigeria’s inflation neared a 29-year high as it rose for the fourth straight month to 34.80 per cent in December 2024 spurred by high festive activities.
On the British currency, which is the Pound Sterling, the domestic currency depreciated by N24.79 to wrap the session at N1,904.43/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,879.64/£1 and against the Euro, it weakened by N14.74 to sell for N1,600.79 per Euro versus N1,586.05/€1.
At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens gained as the anticipation of Mr Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president is building bullish sentiment for the market, which was also encouraged by a highly anticipated CPI inflation data report in the US.
Litecoin (LTC) grew by 17.7 per cent to quote at $119.82, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 9.0 per cent to a six-year high of $3.10, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 7.2 per cent to trade at $202.81, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 5.3 per cent to finish at $0.3789, Ethereum (ETH) increased its value by 4.7 per cent to end at $3,376.28, and Cardano jumped by 3.3 per cent to settle at $1.06, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 2.8 per cent to close at $99,707.22, and Binance Coin (BNB) improved by 1.6 per cent to trade at $710.31, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market rose more than 2 per cent on Wednesday, supported by a large draw in US crude stockpiles and potential supply disruptions caused by new US sanctions on Russia.
Brent crude futures appreciated by $2.11 or 2.64 per cent to $82.03 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude grew by $2.54 or 3.28 per cent to close at $80.04 a barrel.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory dip of 2 million barrels for the second week of the year.
The change estimated by the EIA compared with a modest draw of around 1 million barrels for the previous week, which also saw sizable fuel inventories build that dragged oil prices lower.
For the week to January 10, the EIA estimated an inventory build of 5.9 million in gasoline, with production averaging 9.3 million barrels daily. This compared with a build of as much as 6.3 million barrels for the previous week when production averaged 8.9 million barrels daily. That build was the second sizable weekly one after 2024 ended with a build of 7.7 million barrels in gasoline inventories.
The latest round of US sanctions on Russian oil could disrupt Russian oil supply and distribution significantly, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly oil market report.
The Paris-based agency said that the sanctions on Iran and Russia cover entities that handled more than a third of Russian and Iranian crude exports in 2024, adding that the market will be in surplus this year as supply growth led by countries outside the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+ exceeds subdued expansion in world demand.
This aligns with an earlier projection by the EIA which assumes that OPEC+ would roll back its production cuts and that non-OPEC production would continue leaping forward.
Limiting the gains was fresh developments in the Middle East as Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
OPEC in its monthly oil report on Wednesday forecast stronger demand growth than the IEA of 1.45 million barrels per day this year and, in its first look at 2026, predicted a similar expansion of 1.43 million barrels per day next year.
OPEC expects global oil demand to rise by 1.43 million barrels per day in 2026, maintaining a similar growth rate to 2025.
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