The Securities and Exchange Commission is the main regulatory institution of the Nigerian capital market.
By Zahra
Nigeria risks losing many start-ups in the blockchain and cryptocurrency in the industry if the regulations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are not amended, a startup founder, Sunday Steven has said.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Coin News Extra, Steven said the regulation, which currently requires Nigerian startups to have fixed assets, which include N850 million in a bank account was unrealistic and unfavourable to startup founders in the country.
While Steven acknowledged the need for mergers in allowing Nigerian entrepreneurs in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries to operate, he also stated that this would not fix the problem fully.
He said SEC must rework its policy to accommodate a hundred start-ups struggling to bring innovation into the industry, just like their counterparts everywhere.
“I can’t have a brilliant idea and not be able to work it, I will simply move elsewhere. If we can’t help our startups, they will move elsewhere and thrive very well.“A lot of startup founders aren’t comfortable and that is a bad one for the country.“When we look at brilliant ideas, for instance, today Patricia is no longer operating in Nigeria why? because Patricia has moved her Headquarters to Rwanda as the country is not favourable to innovations in the blockchain and crypto.”
“They were making money but had to move.SEC should go back to the drawing board and redesign its policy. It is left for SEC to bring up working documents and make them effective. you will see a lot of progress,” he said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is the main regulatory institution of the Nigerian capital market.
