Economy
SEC Clarifies Crypto Exchange Approval Status
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has clarified the approval it granted two crypto exchanges in the country.
In a statement, the Director-General of the agency, Mr Emomotimi Agama, emphasised that the firms were never given full approval, but only in principle to give Nigerian youths the opportunity for capital market participation.
Last week, the regulator granted Busha Digital Limited and Quidax Technologies Limited approval-in-principle to commence operation under its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP).
Mr Agama said the action was in line with the desire of President Bola Tinubu to engage with the youths, creating a structure that will enhance their participation, as well as other Nigerians in the market.
“It is important that we act accordingly. We can not be left out of the global phenomenon that is beginning to take shape.
“SEC, as a future-looking institution, is poised to make sure that we are in the league of countries that do what is needed.
“As much as possible, we are building talents to be able to deal with the challenges that these asset classes could bring to our shores.
“A lot of young Nigerians are fully involved in cryptocurrencies and we cannot shut the door against them, rather the intention of the president is to have them included in the capital market.
“That is why SEC is ensuring that there is regulation and no one is hurt at the end of the day, which is part of our responsibility to protect investors and develop the market,” he said.
According to Mr Agama, the commission is doing all of these cautiously to ensure that these institutions do not pose risks to the national economy and to citizens who invested in them.
He disclosed that SEC’s programme on digital assets exchanges emerged from its Virtual Assets Service Providers Regulation given the nature of crypto exchanges and the entire industry.
The director-general noted that it was important to outline a regulation that allowed the commission to fully understand crypto exchanges and virtual financial assets’ services providers.
He said that the idea was borne out of the initial Regulatory Incubation Programme of SEC in its desire to understudy fintech platforms and products that are new to the market.
Mr Agama said that this was to enable the dimension of the risks that were associated with these institutions and their products.
He stressed that the commission had not yet outrightly licenced any exchange, but had provided an approval-in-principle.
He said that the approval granted was a controlled experiment wherein companies that have applied, meet the fit and proper person test and other regulatory guidelines are invited into a regulatory incubation.
“It allows us to know exactly what they are doing, the risks that they pose to our economy, investors, and themselves as operators.
“The idea is, you need to do that to be able to study them and provide all the guidance and regulations required by them to operate in the system seamlessly while also not defrauding Nigerians.
“We are making sure that they operate within regulations similar to what is obtainable in other jurisdictions,” he said.
Business Post reports that despite the approval granted by the SEC, trading cryptocurrencies is still a risky business since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) bars financial institutions from processing crypto-related transactions with many accounts locked due to this activity.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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