The SEC (Nigeria securities regulator) said the firms received approval-in-principle on July 2, allowing provisional operations under supervision as they work toward full registration and compliance requirements including a 25% fidelity bond.
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission has expanded its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program by granting approval-in-principle to GIGX Technologies and Kucoin Nigeria Limited on July 2. The move raises the number of digital asset firms in the supervised framework to nine, following the recent admission of Luno Nigeria and six other companies in the program’s second batch. The ARIP sandbox functions as a regulatory testing ground for virtual asset service providers, letting them operate provisionally while the SEC reviews how they safeguard customer funds, apply anti-money laundering controls, and manage operational risk. The commission said the approvals are not the same as full legalization or blanket authorization for all crypto platforms in Nigeria. To qualify, firms must meet corporate and financial conditions including satisfactory shareholders’ funds, a fidelity bond worth at least 25% of those funds, a physical office in Nigeria, a resident chief executive officer, and registration with the NFIU (Nigeria’s financial intelligence unit).