Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission has admitted three additional virtual asset service providers into its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme, expanding the sandbox to 12 firms since the initiative began onboarding participants in July. The regulator announced on Thursday that Pisi Payment Solutions, the parent company of Fintech YDPay; BC Access (Nigeria) Limited, the legal entity for Blockchain Africa, a subsidiary of global cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com; and Yellow Card, a stablecoin infrastructure startup, have received Approval-in-Principle status.
The designation allows the firms to operate within the programme’s defined scope while remaining subject to ongoing regulatory supervision and conditions set by the commission. “An Approval-in-Principle confirms that an entity has satisfied the Commission’s requirements for admission into the Programme,” the SEC said in a statement. The latest admissions follow the onboarding of nine firms in July, among them investment platform GetEquity and cryptocurrency exchanges KuCoin Nigeria and Luno.
Launched in June 2024, the ARIP serves as a controlled testing environment for virtual asset providers, tokenised product platforms, and other digital investment businesses. The SEC uses the sandbox to evaluate new technologies and business models before they are permitted to offer products to the wider investing public. The regulator first granted admissions to Nigerian cryptocurrency Startups Busha and Quidax in August 2024, with the expectation that a one-year incubation period would lead to full licences. However, the commission has not yet confirmed whether either firm has completed that transition, leaving no clear precedent for how sandbox participants become fully regulated operators.
The expansion reflects the SEC’s renewed push to bring crypto-related businesses under a formal regulatory framework after a slowdown in new admissions earlier this year. The capital markets regulator is accelerating the onboarding of digital asset startups as it seeks to balance innovation with investor protection. Nigeria continues to rank among Africa’s largest cryptocurrency markets by adoption, despite years of regulatory uncertainty and periodic restrictions on parts of the sector. Regulators are increasingly shifting from outright caution toward a framework centred on licensing, supervision, and consumer safeguards.
“Nigeria is one of Africa’s most important digital asset markets, and participating in the SEC’s ARIP is an important step forward in our long-term commitment to the country,” Owen Odia, general manager for Africa at Blockchain, said in an interview. “The programme allows us to work directly with the SEC in a controlled environment, bring our global experience to the Nigerian market, and help support a framework that protects consumers while enabling responsible innovation.”
The SEC has emphasised that ARIP admission does not constitute a final operating licence. The regulator has also imposed minimum capital and corporate governance requirements on digital asset companies, with exchanges and custodians required to maintain capital of up to ₦2 billion ($1.5 million). The latest admissions underscore Nigeria’s move toward a supervised digital asset regime, now structured around the country’s Virtual Asset Council — alongside the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Revenue Service as vice chairs — potentially providing greater clarity for startups, investors, and foreign cryptocurrency firms seeking access to one of Africa’s largest digital asset markets.
