Quidax discontinues P2P trading as Nigeria’s crypto rules tighten
Quidax, a provisionally licenced Nigerian crypto startup, has discontinued its peer-to-peer (P2P) trading feature five months after introducing the service, according to an email sent to customers seen by TechCabal. The feature allowed users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly with verified merchants on Quidax.
The decision underscores the tight regulatory path Nigeria’s crypto exchanges face as authorities push to bring a largely informal market under capital markets oversight. Quidax operates under the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP), a closely-monitored sandbox framework fordigital asset operators.
Startups admitted into the programme—Quidax and competitor Busha—were expected to become fully crypto-licenced by August 2025 after completing the SEC’s stipulated one-year incubation period. That transition has since stalled, with the regulator pausing the licencing process to reassess its supervisory readiness.
Within that environment, P2P trading sits at the edge of regulatory tolerance. In 2024, the SEC raised concerns about P2P crypto markets, citing exchange rate manipulations, opaque transaction flows, and the prevalence of platforms operated by prominent foreign players, such as Bybit and Bitget, which function in a regulatory grey area in Nigeria.
Those concerns are rooted in oversight challenges: P2P transactions often migrate into informal channels, making it harder for regulators to monitor activity, protect investors, or detect abuse.
Quidax’s P2P offering was designed as a response to those concerns. Rather than allowing trades to spill off-platform, the exchange sought to formalise P2P transactions within a controlled environment.
Only verified users could become merchants, and eligibility required a fully registered account, Level-3 know-your-customer verification, two-factor authentication, and at least 7 days of active participation before applying through the platform.
Applications were reviewed by Quidax, with approved merchants granted special badges to distinguish them within the marketplace.
Despite those safeguards, Quidax said the decision to discontinue P2P trading was strategic. In a notice to customers, the company said most users preferred faster trading options, such as instant swaps and order-book trading, and that streamlining its services would allow it to focus on features with higher demand.
Following the P2P shutdown by Quidax, its marketplace, ads, chats, and escrow services will be disabled, while other services will continue to operate normally.
Since the SEC maintains close oversight of provisionally licenced startups, Quidax’s decision to discontinue P2P trading is also a direct signal of what the regulator is currently ready and well-equipped to oversee and what it cannot.
If cryptocurrencies are often described as a Wild West industry, P2P markets turn up the flame on those risks, intensifying concerns around informal settlement, limited visibility, and investor protection.
While the regulator is likely keen to gain deeper insight into P2P markets as rules evolve, the immediate focus has been on activities that fit more neatly within established capital-market structures.
Nigeria’s regulatory posture for cryptocurrencies has become clearer in recent months. On January 16, the SEC raised minimum capital requirements for capital market operators, including virtual asset service providers.
Under the Investment and Securities Act (2025), digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, are now regulated as securities, placing them firmly under the SEC’s oversight and within Nigeria’s capital markets framework. While the SEC did not explicitly outline requirements for P2P platforms in its latest capital thresholds, the classification regime offers guidance.
A P2P trading platform operating as a standalone service could be treated as a Digital Assets Intermediary (DAI), providing broking, routing, or facilitation services between users, such as order routing, matchmaking, or agency-based P2P brokerage, with a new minimum capital requirement of ₦500 million ($352,000).
Alternatively, platforms that operate a digital asset environment or protocol without running a full exchange stack may fall under Digital Asset Platform Operators (DAPOs), which carry the same ₦500 million ($352,000) threshold.
Where providers stack services—particularly by combining P2P trading with full exchange functionality, custody, or escrow services—the regulatory bar rises further, potentially requiring a higher capital requirement.
The SEC has yet to issue a dedicated regulatory framework for virtual assets in Nigeria, leaving operators to interpret how far innovation can extend before it runs ahead of regulatory clarity.
Quidax also announced plans to delist 35 crypto tokens from its platform, including meme coins such as $TRUMP and Book of Meme; gaming-focused tokens like Axie Infinity; Sam Altman-backed Worldcoin; and World Liberty Financial ($WLFI), a 2024-launched stablecoin associated with Zachary Folkman, Chase Herro, Alex Witkoff, Zach Witkoff, and members of the Trump family.
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