How to build a crypto on-ramp in Nigeria

To build a crypto on-ramp in Nigeria, you either register with the SEC as a virtual asset service provider and run it yourself, or integrate a provider such as Yellow Card or the Daya API, which takes days to weeks rather than the 6 to 12 months registration does. An on-ramp turns naira into stablecoins: your user pays naira into a bank account, and USDC or USDT lands in a wallet or a balance you hold for them. The Nigerian's guide to stablecoins covers USDT and USDC themselves.

It sounds like a payments problem. Most of the difficulty is regulatory.

Start with the law, not the code

Nigeria's position on crypto changed in March 2025, when the Investments and Securities Act 2025 recognised digital assets as securities. That put crypto under the Securities and Exchange Commission rather than in the grey zone it occupied before.

The practical consequence: if you are running an on-ramp yourself, you are a Virtual Asset Service Provider, and VASPs need SEC registration.

The SEC's VASP categories cover crypto exchanges, custodial wallet providers, OTC platforms and digital asset brokerages. An on-ramp usually falls into more than one.

What SEC registration requires

• ₦500 million in paid-up share capital, plus a fidelity bond covering at least 25% of that amount, under the SEC's rules on digital assets
• ₦30 million SEC registration fee, on top of a ₦100,000 filing fee, a ₦300,000 processing fee and ₦100,000 for each sponsored individual
• A locally incorporated company with a registered office in Nigeria, managed by a director resident in Nigeria
• A documented AML/CFT framework covering KYC, transaction monitoring and suspicious activity reporting
• Compliance manuals, cybersecurity policies and operational procedures
• Blockchain analytics for transaction monitoring
• Segregated client funds

Those are the figures in force today. A draft rulebook the SEC put out for comment on 20 August 2026 would raise the capital requirement to ₦2 billion for digital asset exchanges and custodians, and set ₦200 million for other virtual asset service providers, with the ₦30 million registration fee unchanged (Guardian on the proposed thresholds). Check which set applies before you budget anything.

There is a faster door. The SEC's Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme checklist, or ARIP, gives you an Approval-in-Principle and lets you operate under supervision while you work towards full registration. It puts a non-refundable ₦2 million processing fee on the application, and penalties of ₦5 million for a first default and ₦200,000 a day after that.

None of this is a reason not to build. It is a reason to decide early which of the two routes you are taking.

Route 1: get licensed and build it yourself

You raise the capital, register with the SEC, and build the whole stack. This makes sense if crypto infrastructure is your product rather than a feature of it.

Budget for the licence, a compliance team, and 6 to 12 months before you process a first transaction.

Route 2: integrate a licensed provider

You build the product and call someone else's API for the regulated parts. The provider holds the licence, the banking relationships and the liquidity. You hold the customer relationship.

This is how most fintechs, wallets and platforms add an on-ramp, and it's the only realistic route if the on-ramp is a feature rather than the business. Several providers sell it as an API. The Daya API documentation shows what one of them covers.

What an on-ramp actually needs

Whichever route you take, the same components have to exist. If you integrate, most of these arrive with the API.

1. Naira collection. Dedicated bank account details per customer, so an incoming transfer is automatically attributable. Shared accounts with reference codes create reconciliation problems at volume.
2. Identity verification. KYC for individuals, KYB for businesses, plus sanctions screening. Tiering matters, because verification level usually gates limits and which currencies a customer can hold.
3. A quoted rate with a validity window. Crypto prices and FX both move, and naira FX moves in two markets at once, so read up on the gap between the official and black market naira rates before you set a spread. You need a quote your customer accepts, valid for a defined period, and logic for what happens when it expires mid-payment.
4. Liquidity. Someone has to actually hold the stablecoins you are selling. This is the piece people underestimate, and it is the main reason integrating is cheaper than it looks.
5. Wallets and custody. Addresses to send to, keys to secure, and a decision about whether you hold customer assets or pass them straight through. Custody changes your regulatory position.
6. On-chain settlement. Sending on the right network, handling confirmations, and dealing with failed or stuck transactions. What each network costs to send USDT on is the practical version of that choice, and it has changed a lot.
7. Webhooks. Your system needs to know when money arrived, when a transfer settled and when verification completed, without polling.
8. Reconciliation and monitoring. Every naira in matched to every token out, with alerting when they diverge.

What the Daya API covers

Integrating the Daya API means you build on naira and stablecoin rails that already run, instead of setting up your own on-ramp, which is the route that carries the ₦500 million in paid-up share capital and ₦30 million registration fee the SEC asks for.

It collects naira from customers and sends them stablecoins, and does the same in reverse for off-ramps. It issues Nigerian bank accounts for naira deposits and USD accounts for tier-2-verified customers, gives guaranteed FX rates with defined validity windows, and sends webhooks for funding accounts, deposits, withdrawals, transfers and verification events. Settlement can go to an on-chain address, an internal Daya balance, or a naira bank payout.

It doesn't remove the legal question. Whether the licence obligation sits with you or with the provider turns on who holds customer funds and who executes the conversion, so get your own arrangement checked by a Nigerian securities lawyer before you launch.

Read the Daya API documentation

What the integration flow looks like

Using a provider API, an on-ramp is roughly:

1. Create the customer and run verification
2. Issue them a funding account, which gives you Nigerian bank details to display
3. Request a rate quote with a validity window and show it to the customer
4. Customer pays naira into the funding account
5. Receive a webhook confirming the deposit
6. Settle the stablecoins to an on-chain address, an internal balance, or wherever your product holds them
7. Receive a webhook confirming settlement, then update your own ledger

The interesting engineering is in steps 3 and 5. Everything else is plumbing.

The costs people underestimate

• Reconciliation, not fees. The spread is visible and easy to compare. The cost of a mismatched ledger at 3am is not.
• Failed and partial payments. Customers underpay, overpay, pay late and pay twice. Every one needs a defined path.
• Rate expiry. Between quote and settlement, the price moves. Decide who absorbs that and write it down before launch.
• Support. Crypto support tickets are about money that appears to be missing. They are urgent by nature and need someone who understands the chain.
• Compliance drift. Rules here have changed twice in two years. Budget for keeping up rather than for a one-off setup.

This article describes the regulatory landscape as of September 2026 and is not legal advice. Rules change, and your obligations depend on your specific structure. Speak to a Nigerian securities lawyer before launching.