SEC admits 7 more crypto firms into regulatory sandbox, total now 9
By Aboki Forex —
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved seven additional digital asset businesses to join its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP), bringing the total number of cryptocurrency firms under its regulatory sandbox to nine.
In a statement on Thursday, July 2, the commission said the newly accepted companies have been granted Approval-in-Principle (AIP), which allows them to operate within the established scope of the programme, conditioned on their regulatory, operational and supervisory obligations.
List of newly approved firms
The seven companies admitted are Bitbarter Technologies Limited, Luno Fintech Nigeria Limited, GetEquity Limited, Koinkoin Global Network Limited, Wrapped CBDC Ltd, Trovotech Ltd, and Blockvault Custodian Ltd.
This latest round of approvals follows the SEC's admittance of Quidax and Busha to its framework in August 2024 as part of an initiative to establish a structured regulatory framework for digital asset service providers in Nigeria.
What Approval-in-Principle means
According to the commission, Approval-in-Principle validates that each company satisfies the entry requirements to participate in the ARIP program, but is not a final operating licence.
“An Approval-in-Principle validates that an entity meets the commission's requirements for admission into the Programme. It should be noted that it is not a final licence, and remains contingent upon the entity’s continuous compliance with all regulatory, operational, and supervisory requirements,” the SEC said.
Luno Nigeria CEO reacts
In a separate press release, Luno Fintech Nigeria Limited hailed its entry into the programme as a key development following lengthy consultations with the SEC.
Luno Nigeria CEO, Ayotunde Alabi, said: “We are happy. This is a major milestone for Luno Nigeria and further validates our commitment to growing responsibly in one of Africa's key crypto markets.”
The company added that the approval would also allow it to deepen engagement with customers and institutional partners while further growing its business-to-business offerings.
The move strengthens Nigeria's regulation of the digital asset and cryptocurrency industry as the country ratchets up supervision of the sector.