By Opeyemi Quadri 
Digital asset providers operating or plan to operate in Nigeria will now pay the sum of N30 million as registration, according to the new rules released by the Nigeria’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The new rules which was released by the regulating body on August 20, 2026, digital assets providers that will be affected by the new rules include digital asset platform operators (DAPOs), digital asset custodians (DACs), digital asset exchanges (DAXs) and real-world asset tokenisation platforms (RATOPs).
Meanwhile, each of the digital asset providers are required to have a varying minimum capital base in addition to the flat N30m registration fee.
For instance, DAXs and DACs will be required to have N2 billion as capital base while N500 million is minimum capital base for DAPOs, DAOPs and RATOPs.
Similarly, virtual asset service providers (VASPs) would have a minimum capital requirement of N200 million and applicants would be required to pay a N100,000 processing fee and a N300,000 application fee.
Also, SEC the aforementioned crypto-related providers are to maintain a fidelity insurance bond, which must cover at least 25 percent of their minimum paid-up capital.
Other required fees
The Nigeria’s investment regulatory body also stated that entities that seek to operate under the accelerated regulatory incubation programme (ARIP) must pay a N200,000 initial assessment fee and a N2 million ARIP application fee.
That’s not all. The new SEC framework also introduced ongoing supervisory charges linked to the turnover of the crypto-related service providers.
For instance, a DAX operating under ARIP would be required to pay a supervisory fee of 0.015 percent of adjusted turnover, while other entities under ARIP would pay 0.0075 percent.
After the full registration is completed, SEC also stated that the supervisory fee would rise to 0.025 percent of adjusted turnover for DAXs and 0.015 percent for other regulated entities, payable quarterly or at such frequency as it prescribes.
