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KuCoin picked for Nigeria’s virtual asset pilot as sole global exchange

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KuCoin picked for Nigeria’s virtual asset pilot as sole global exchange

Summary

  • The Central Bank of Nigeria has launched a supervisory pilot for virtual asset providers, selecting KuCoin alongside five local fintech and crypto firms.
  • The program focuses on AML, CFT and CPF compliance in line with FATF standards, requiring detailed reporting and upgrades to governance, monitoring and Travel Rule controls.
  • KuCoin’s inclusion underscores its push to align with national regulatory frameworks in major emerging markets, rather than operating purely offshore.news.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has launched a pilot supervisory program for Virtual Asset Service Providers and selected a first cohort of six entities, with KuCoin standing out as the only global crypto exchange on the list. According to local press coverage, the initial phase includes Nigerian payment and crypto players cNGN, Flutterwave, Juicyway, KoinKoin and Paystack, alongside KuCoin, which serves a global user base but has significant volumes in Africa’s largest crypto market.

The pilot is designed to test how selected VASPs perform under direct central bank oversight on issues such as anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and counter-proliferation financing, all framed against the Financial Action Task Force’s Recommendations 15 and 16. CBN statements cited by outlets including Leadership and AInvest describe the program as a structured effort to understand VASP business models, risk controls and data flows, and to push participants toward full FATF-aligned compliance.

Under the arrangements, participating firms must engage in regular, structured regulatory communications with the central bank and other agencies. They are required to submit periodic data on AML/CFT/CPF performance, undergo audits of customer onboarding and KYC, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, and demonstrate credible plans to track cross-border flows under the Travel Rule for crypto transfers.

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The pilot, which is expected to run for six to nine months, does not itself confer licenses or formal approval, but it does bring KuCoin and the local platforms into what the CBN calls a “controlled and structured environment” for supervision. Authorities say the goal is to move from fragmented restrictions to a risk-based regime that can both weed out bad actors and keep Nigeria’s $92.1 billion annual crypto flows inside a more stable, transparent framework.

For KuCoin, being named in the first batch alongside domestic fintech leaders is a signal that Nigerian regulators see the exchange as a core liquidity node worth pulling into the official perimeter. Analysis from regional outlets notes that the pilot engages “Nigeria’s most visible VASPs,” suggesting KuCoin’s role in local crypto activity made it unavoidable for the CBN’s initial supervisory experiment.

The selection also fits KuCoin’s broader narrative of improving its compliance posture across emerging markets, as regulators from Africa to Asia tighten rules for offshore exchanges after years of largely unregulated growth. If KuCoin can meet Nigeria’s demands on governance, monitoring and Travel Rule adherence, it will strengthen the case that large global platforms can operate under domestic oversight rather than being pushed out of key markets.

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Crypto World

‘Memecoin Messiah’ Lost $60M Trading Mostly SPX6900: He’s Still Not Selling

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'Memecoin Messiah' Lost $60M Trading Mostly SPX6900: He's Still Not Selling

Murad Mahmudov, a crypto trader also known as the “Memecoin messiah,” has lost nearly $60 million across his bets in the past nine months. Still, he expects a bullish reversal.

Key takeaways:

  • Mahmudov thinks SPX6900, which is 96% of his memecoin portfolio, will rise 400,000%.

  • SPX6900 chart technicals signal another 20% decline in the coming weeks.

SPX6900 will reach $1 trillion market cap, claims Mahmudov

On Wednesday, Mahmudov said the market capitalization of SPX6900 (SPX), a memecoin on a mission to overtake the US benchmark S&P 500 index, will grow to $1 trillion from its current valuation of around $250 million, a nearly 400,000% increase.

Source: X/@MustStopMurad

For context, Bitcoin (BTC) is the only cryptocurrency that has been able to hit a $1 trillion mark so far, led by growing institutional demand.

Mahmudov’s publicly labeled wallets, tracked under the entity “Muststopmurad” by Arkham Intelligence, currently hold approximately 29.964 million SPX, valued at roughly $7.79 million.

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Murad Mahmudov’s crypto portfolio. Source: Arkham Intelligence

This single position accounts for about 96% of his total tracked portfolio, currently valued at around $8.1 million.

At its peak in July last year, the same portfolio was worth around $67 million.

The drop since then amounts to an unrealized loss of roughly $60 million, as the broader memecoin sector, including SPX, corrected by more than 80% from its highs.

Mahmudov still holds SPX6900 and other memecoins

Mahmudov does not appear to be locking in the memecoin losses.

Portfolio tracker DropsTab shows no meaningful sales of SPX6900 or his other major positions, with realized profits and losses on the tracked holdings still at zero.

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Mahmudov’s portfolio dashboard. Source: DropsTab

Importantly, the trader appears to be holding more than $6.22 million in unrealized gains instead of taking a profit.

Mahmudov’s refusal to sell also stands out because the broader memecoin market has been brutal toward its dedicated holders.

In a January report, CoinGecko said that 53.2% of all cryptocurrencies tracked since 2021 were inactive, with 11.6 million token failures recorded in 2025 alone that particularly “affected the memecoin sector.”

Related: Memecoins and art market share similar economics — Ki Young Ju

Mahmudov’s smaller wallet holdings also reveal the limits of memecoin conviction.

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Public DEX data for ticker-level matches, including RETARDMAXX, HONK and CHAD, shows that some of these names are barely functional.

One RETARDMAXX pair had roughly $44,000 in liquidity but just six transactions and $89 in daily volume, while CHAD showed $842 in liquidity with zero trades and zero makers.

RETARDMAXX/SOL daily chart. Source: DEXScreener.COM

One HONK pair, meanwhile, had just $1 in liquidity and no recorded activity. Those tokens may still print a price on screen, but in a selloff, they offer little evidence of dependable exit liquidity.

SPX900 breakdown hints at more losses ahead

On the three-day chart, SPX6900 appears to be breaking down from a rising wedge, a bearish pattern that typically resolves lower after price slips below support.

SPX has already started losing the wedge’s lower trendline near $0.26 and remains below its 20-, 50- and 100-period exponential moving averages, underscoring weak momentum.

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SPX/USDT.P three-day chart. Source: TradingView

If the breakdown confirms, the measured move points to $0.205, about 20% below current levels.

A 20% drop in SPX would cut roughly $1.56 million from Mahmudov’s memecoin portfolio.