Luno, Trovotech, Wrapped CBDC and 4 others get SEC’s nod for crypto sandbox

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cleared seven fintech firms for its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP), the regulatory sandbox for crypto and digital asset businesses. This is the first new cohort admitted into the programme since August 2024.

The newly admitted firms are Bitbarter Technologies, Luno Fintech Nigeria, GetEquity, Koinkoin Global Network, Wrapped CBDC, Trovotech, and Blockvault Custodian.

The SEC said in a statement seen by Condia that the firms will now receive Approval-in-Principle (AIP), which allows them to operate within the scope of the programme, subject to conditions set by the Commission. The regulator was clear that an AIP is not a full licence. It only confirms the firm has met the Commission’s admission requirements and remains conditional on continued compliance.

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What this means for the cryptocurrency market

Since the SEC first ran ARIP in August 2024, admission has been unusually tight. Only two firms, Busha and Quidax, had received AIPs to operate as digital asset exchanges outright, while five others, including Trovotech, Wrapped CBDC and Blockvault Custodian, were admitted to the related Regulatory Incubation (RI) track to test their models, not to operate under ARIP itself. No new entities joined either track for close to two years.

That freeze coincided with growing regulatory weight on the sector. Nigeria recognised digital assets as securities under the Investments and Securities Act 2025, placing the SEC in charge of their regulation. Then in January 2026, the SEC doubled minimum capital requirements for digital asset exchanges and custodians to ₦2 billion, up from ₦500 million, with firms given until June 2027 to comply. Industry players had warned the higher bar could squeeze out smaller, early-stage players.

Against that backdrop, this cohort of seven signals the SEC is reopening its pipeline, even as it tightens the rules firms must meet to stay in it.

Three of the seven — Trovotech, Wrapped CBDC and Blockvault Custodian are graduating. They were already on the SEC’s RI track as of 2024 and now move up to ARIP with an AIP. Wrapped CBDC runs cNGN, a naira-pegged stablecoin.

Last updated: July 3, 2026