CBN Opens Second Regulatory Sandbox to Crypto Firms, VASPs and Stablecoin Startups
Nigeria's Central Bank has opened applications for its second regulatory sandbox, formally welcoming virtual asset service providers, stablecoin startups, and fintech innovators into a supervised testing environment. The cohort includes a clear delineation of the CBN's jurisdiction relative to the SEC, setting Nigeria's crypto regulatory architecture on more defined foundations.
CBN Sandbox: Nigeria now has two regulators running parallel crypto auditions
The CBN's second sandbox opened the same week the SEC's latest crypto cohort is still running — Luno and six others already testing under SEC oversight.
For a founder, that's not twice the opportunity. It's a genuine puzzle about which door leads somewhere.
The unification order was supposed to resolve exactly this — one council, clear lanes. Instead, both agencies are running their own supervised testing tracks simultaneously. Until the council actually publishes the framework that separates CBN's turf from SEC's, joining either sandbox means building under oversight whose authority is still being negotiated above your head.
3 sources
- CBN Regulatory Sandbox Cohort 2 Opens Applications for Fintech Innovators in Nigeria · techbuild.africa · T2
- Nigeria’s central bank opens regulatory sandbox to virtual asset firms · techcabal.com · T1
- CBN opens second regulatory sandbox cohort to VASPs, stablecoin startups and fintechs · technext24.com · T2