Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is intensifying its crackdown on cryptocurrency fraud by turning to advanced blockchain intelligence tools.
The regulator says the approach will strengthen market oversight, expose illicit transactions, and protect investors in the country’s rapidly expanding digital asset sector.
Speaking at a joint webinar with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, SEC Director-General Dr. Emomotimi Agama warned of rising scams targeting investors. The event, themed “Combating Scams with Blockchain Intelligence,” brought together regulators, analysts, and industry leaders to discuss emerging threats.
Agama stressed that blockchain’s immutable nature provides a powerful tool for tracing illicit transactions. He highlighted wallet clustering, fund flow analysis, and transaction tracking on major blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum as key elements of the SEC’s strategy.
“We must speak about transaction transparency—where every Bitcoin or Ethereum transfer is permanently recorded, and related wallets are identified,” he said.
The SEC chief warned of increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics, including fake decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, fraudulent NFT projects, mirror exchange sites, and romance scams.
He also flagged the growing use of social media platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp in orchestrating investment fraud.
Agama described the newly enacted Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 as a “groundbreaker” for Nigeria’s crypto regulation. The law, effective since April, provides clearer rules for digital asset operations while seeking to balance investor protection with innovation.
He called for closer cooperation between regulators, industry players, and technology providers to address the growing fraud risk. “What we need to do collectively is to make sure we stop this right at the beginning,” he said.
As Nigeria positions itself as a hub for digital finance in Africa, the SEC’s push for intelligence-led oversight signals a shift toward stronger investor safeguards in the cryptocurrency sector.
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