The Central Bank of Nigeria has set a minimum paid-up capital of ₦15 billion, about $11.16 million, for anyone issuing a foreign-currency stablecoin in Nigeria. That covers dollar-pegged tokens like USDT and USDC. The rule sits in the CBN’s new Regulations for the Operations of Non-Security Virtual Assets in Nigeria, released on 5 November. BusinessDay reports that the bank says there is no offshore issuer exemption. A foreign-currency stablecoin offered, marketed, exchanged, held for customers or redeemed in Nigeria has to go through a Nigerian-incorporated company with a CBN licence.
The licence comes with conditions beyond the money. The issuer needs a staffed office in Nigeria and has to be managed locally. The capital must be shown through an RTGS deposit, and it cannot be used as operating cash or to pay redemptions. The issuer must hold separate liquidity of its own that covers the higher of six months of running costs or the cost of an orderly wind-down. If an issuer’s capital falls short, it must tell the CBN immediately and file a restoration plan within 10 business days, and the bank can restrict new issuance or customer sign-ups.
Naira stablecoins carry lighter requirements. BusinessDay reports ₦10 billion for issuers of naira-referenced stablecoins and ₦1 billion for other virtual asset providers. Nairametrics adds that peer-to-peer crypto trades on platforms now face stricter approval and identity checks. The ₦15 billion is also additional to any capital the SEC requires, and the same money cannot count toward both.
Deji (@Adexdeji) broke the framework down into classes, from naira stablecoins to tokenised bank deposits. He called it sound on its merits, but argued that the ₦10 billion capital requirement for fully reserved naira stablecoins looks like overkill, since issuers don’t lend out reserves and there is no local naira stablecoin industry yet.
