👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – FoodCourt pauses operations

In June 2024, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP), a regulatory sandbox for virtual asset companies. This came shortly after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had lifted its ban on banks working with crypto firms in December 2023, a restriction that had been in place since 2021. 

One month after ARIP launched, crypto startups Busha and Quidax became its first entrants. 

It felt like the beginning of something. Instead, almost two years passed with little to show for it. The two companies never graduated to full licences, and no new firms were admitted.

Then, in 48 hours, everything changed. On July 2 and 3, the SEC admitted nine companies into ARIP. The first batch included Luno, GetEquity, Koinkoin, WrappedCBDC, Trovotech, Blockvault, and Bitbarter. A second batch, admitted on Friday, included GIGX Technologies and KuCoin.

Why the SEC is moving now: Nigeria’s crypto market has become too big to leave in regulatory limbo. The country received about $92.1 billion in crypto value between July 2024 and June 2025, making it one of the world’s largest crypto markets. Yet, participation in the country’s capital markets remains relatively low. 

SEC Director-General Emomotimi Agama told Bloomberg in October 2025 that while millions of Nigerians are willing to take financial risks through gambling and cryptocurrencies, fewer than three million invest in the capital market.

“An appetite for risk clearly exists,” he said, “but not the trust or access to channel that energy into the productive sector.”

ARIP is…