SEC, CBN working on how to regulate cryptocurrency operations- SEC DG

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made a disclosure that it is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for a  regulation of cryptocurrencies in the country.
Recall that CBN had in February 2021, barred deposit money banks  from doing business with cryptos and other digital assets.
The Director-General of SEC, Lamido Yuguda, made this remark at the 2021 post-Capital Market Committee (CMC) virtual news conference.
Acccording to him, SEC is having discussion discussion with the CBN for better understanding and regulation of the crypto-assets market,
He added that SEC had suspended the implementation of crypto assets guidelines owing to lack of access to Nigerian bank accounts.
Yuguda in his statement said, “We are in discussion with CBN for both understanding and better regulating of this market. We will be able to come back to you later to inform you of the outcome of these engagements.
“But because of the lack of access to commercial bank accounts, we had to suspend our own guidelines of September 2020. The implementation of that circular is suspended until these operators are able to have access to Nigerian bank accounts.
“Remember that nobody operates in the Nigerian capital market if that person does not have access to a Nigerian bank account,” he said.
Yuguda added that SEC had always provided support to Fintechs and had invested so much in developing a framework to support their operations.
He said, “Let me say that the SEC remains very supportive of fintechs. We have invested so much in developing a framework for supporting fintechs in the various areas and fintechs are acting in areas of crowdfunding, investment advice and cryptocurrencies and the like.”
He said, “In all other areas, nothing has changed, but in the area of crypto assets, you know that with the recent prohibition by the CBN on access to Nigerian bank accounts by crypto exchanges, that market has been disrupted.
“And the truth of the matter is that while the SEC had issued guidelines in September 2020 aimed at regulating this market, for now for all intents and purposes, because these exchanges do not have access to commercial bank accounts in Nigeria, the market, for now, does not exist.’’