Feature Story: SEC Has No Power to Regulate Cryptocurrencies

Regulation of certain technology and other trends have their sole bodies. Cryptocurrency for one, is believed to be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but a high-rise lawyer of the fourth industrial revolution, Boulevard Aladetoyinbo Esq., has stated otherwise in his article on Medium.

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Aladetoyinbo Esq., the Head of Crypto Capital Formation Practice, Lex Futurus Group, clearly differentiated the job description of the two main financial regulating bodies in Nigeria; the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria's apex monetary authority and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the main regulatory institution of the Nigerian capital market, declaring that "Issuance and regulation of cryptocurrencies fall by necessary implication within the remit of the CBN."

Cryptocurrencies not issued and regulated by the CBN are private currencies, as the apex authority has not declared any interest of the government in coming up with public cryptocurrency/cryptocurrencies. However, central banks all around the world are working on their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) projects. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) is a worthy example.

The job of the SEC is to regulate securities for cryptosecurities, cryptocommodities, and cryptoderivatives which are products financialized and built on cryptocurrencies as the nascent monetary system foundation. The regulatory remit and jurisdiction over cryptocurrencies otherwise known as cryptoutilities lie with the central banking sector.

Adding to the above writings on his article, Aladetoyinbo Esq., calls out Section 3 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act 2007 and Section 13 of the Investment and Securities Act 2007, saying that each Act has "spelt out the individual powers to regulate and what to regulate respectively." This therefore relieves the SEC of the power to regulate cryptocurrencies and its equivalent.