Nigeria SEC admits three more crypto firms into regulatory sandbox, total now 12
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission admitted three more virtual asset service providers into its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme on Thursday, bringing the total in the sandbox to 12 firms since July. The newly approved are Pisi Payment Solutions (parent of YDPay), BC Access Nigeria Limited (the local entity of Blockchain Africa, a subsidiary of global exchange Blockchain), and Yellow Card, the stablecoin infrastructure startup. Each receives Approval‑in‑Principle status, permitting them to operate within the sandbox’s defined scope while remaining subject to the Commission’s ongoing supervisory conditions.
In July the SEC had already admitted nine firms, including investment platform GetEquity and crypto exchanges KuCoin Nigeria and Luno. Launched in June 2024, ARIP serves as a controlled testing environment for virtual asset providers, tokenised product platforms and other digital investment businesses, allowing the regulator to evaluate new technologies before they are offered to the wider public. The SEC first granted AIP to Nigerian crypto startups Busha and Quidax in August 2024, with the expectation that a one‑year incubation would lead to full licences; the regulator has not yet confirmed whether either has completed that transition.
The commission has also set minimum capital requirements of up to ₦2 billion (about $1.5 million) for exchanges and custodians operating in the sandbox. Nigeria remains one of Africa’s largest cryptocurrency markets despite years of regulatory uncertainty, and the SEC’s move signals a shift toward a supervised digital asset regime that involves the Virtual Asset Council, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Revenue Service as vice chairs.
With the sandbox expanding, will these firms secure full licences soon, and how might tighter capital rules affect Nigeria’s crypto startups?
SOURCE: https://techcabal.com/2026/08/14/sec-expands-sandbox-to-yellow-card-blockchain/