Nigeria recognizes cryptocurrencies as capital assets according to new market regulations

Nigeria's new laws of stock market have begun declaring online currency such as Bitcoin as capital assets. This legislative change will help increase transparency and attract investments in internet finances.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed a new Investment and Security Act (ISA) by 2024, which cancels the old law established in 2007 (ISA No. 29).

The new law says all digital assets and related capital agreements will be considered as capital assets. It has also enabled SEC to control digital asset providers (VASPs), digital asset managers (DAOPs), and digital asset markets.

This means that any company dealing with digital assets must register with the SEC and follow its regulations. This step is crucial to eliminating scam services in the digital world, and boosting trust in blockchain innovations.

Director of SEC, Emomotimi Agama, praised the move, saying it would lead to increase in capital investments in digital assets.

Previously, Nigeria has started reacting with panic since internet currency started getting collected in 2015, after the fall of raw oil and Naira value.

Bitcoin and other internet currencies have become a refuge for many Nigerians, making Nigeria second in the world to hold internet currency, after America.

But the demand for internet finance has increased the number of Naira exchange and other fees. As a result, the Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered banks to close all accounts related to internet currency.

Customers then return to business secretly, using direct transaction (P2P). Binance, one of the world's largest currency marketing companies, has changed its trends early, offering P2P services to Nigerian users.

President Tinubu as president ascends to power in mid 2023, he appointed Olayemi Cardoso as CBN governor, and the government has begun to slow down its position on internet currency, an indication that Nigeria is planning to change its way into digital affairs.