Nigeria SEC admits seven crypto firms to ARIP sandbox, Luno becomes first international exchange
Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission has granted approval-in-principle to seven cryptocurrency firms under its regulatory sandbox, bringing the total number of ARIP-cleared crypto operators to nine. Luno has been confirmed as the first international exchange admitted into the framework, marking a significant expansion of Nigeria's formal digital asset regulation.
Nigeria Crypto: the pipeline is the point
Three of these seven firms were already inside an earlier SEC programme, the Regulatory Incubation track, back in 2024. They didn't just appear — they graduated.
That escalation path, from early testing to formal Approval-in-Principle to a 12-month window to earn a full licence, is what most markets claim to have and few actually run. Nigeria's SEC is quietly running it.
Luno getting in as the first international exchange is the headline. The real signal is that the pipeline itself is working — which means a founder building a digital asset product in Nigeria now has a visible road to legitimacy, not just a regulator to negotiate around.
5 sources
- Nigeria’s Crypto Licensing Pipeline Expands With Seven New Fintech Approvals · techbuild.africa · T2
- SEC clears Luno, Koinkoin and 5 other crypto exchanges to operate in Nigeria as total approvals hit 9 · technext24.com · T2
- SEC Approves Luno, Koinkoin and 5 Other Crypto Firms in Nigeria · innovation-village.com · T2
- Luno Nigeria Becomes First International Exchange Accepted Into SEC’s ARIP · techbuild.africa · T2
- SEC grants approval-in-principle to 7 crypto firms under regulatory sandbox · nairametrics.com · T2