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Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a strong warning to celebrities and social media influencers, urging them to desist from promoting unregistered digital asset platforms and speculative meme coins. This regulatory clampdown follows the dramatic collapse of the CBEX crypto trading platform, which left investors unable to access their funds and led to public outrage, including the ransacking of Smart Treasure’s (ST Team) offices in Ibadan—an affiliate of the defunct platform.
Speaking in the wake of the incident, Emomotimi Agama, the newly appointed Director-General of the SEC, emphasized that under the newly enacted Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025, digital asset operators must comply with regulatory requirements, including mandatory registration and licensing. The updated legislation, recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, is designed to promote regulatory transparency and curb the proliferation of unregulated investment schemes across Nigeria’s growing fintech landscape.
Agama pointedly criticized the role of influencers and celebrities in endorsing speculative tokens and unlicensed platforms, warning that such actions contribute to rising financial crime risks, including pump-and-dump schemes, ponzi-style investments, and the unchecked spread of unregulated digital assets.
“It is important that even for celebrities, we must be cautious around what we do. Becoming influencers or introducing meme coins that do not mean well for the generality of Nigerians are not going to be tolerated,” Agama said.
He further noted that the ISA 2025 was crafted not only to drive financial innovation in the Digital Asset and FinTech ecosystem, but also to ensure strict regulatory compliance, risk mitigation, and investor protection. The new framework equips the SEC with enhanced powers to carry out compliance monitoring, enforce penalties, and dismantle illicit digital finance operations.
“If it is not registered, it is illegal. The law will be enforced,” Agama warned.
The regulator’s position underscores the urgent need for RegTech solutions that can enhance compliance workflows, improve KYC/AML controls, and support real-time regulatory intelligence in the fast-evolving digital finance environment.
As the SEC intensifies compliance audits and oversight of Nigeria’s cryptocurrency space, the message is clear: the era of unregulated promotions and digital asset schemes without governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) frameworks is rapidly coming to an end.
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