The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it would develop a regulatory framework to recognize stablecoins and initial coin offerings as an investment class.
The central bank said in its “Payment System Vision 2025” report that private stablecoins have evolved to become a successful payment mechanism in the country, hence the need to regulate their operations.
The regulator added that it would work with relevant authorities to develop a regulatory framework for a possible implementation of stablecoin offerings.
Furthermore, the central bank said it will work jointly with the Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate initial coin offering (ICO)-based investment solutions.
According to the apex bank, ICOs if properly regulated could serve as a new approach for startups to crowdfund and raise funds for their projects. Additionally, ICOs would be recognized as an investment instrument, which can boast the country’s foreign direct investment.
The CBN said it will continue to support innovations built on distributed ledger technology (DLT), as it considers it a potential enabler for transformation in the Nigerian economy.
This latest development is seen as a step in the right direction for crypto adoption in Nigeria after the apex bank had earlier made a big move against crypto in 2021. CBN at that time banned crypto and activities in financial institutions. This however didn’t stop Nigerians from holding crypto assets and the nation has since been recognized as the number one country in Africa spearheading Bitcoin adoption.
