Topic: Nigeria SEC proposes 10 Years Jail Terms For Crypto Ponzi Scheme Operators (Read 737 times)

Like the fact that Davido was exposed not only by Nigerians but also by Westerners who were duped by his pump and dump token, and now every time he drops a link or asks fans to register for tickets, you will see some strange comments like "do not click the link," "do you want to scam us again," "link directed me to my wallet," and all sorry for the negative comments.


He felt rugging his fans was the best thing to do, not realizing how unified Nigerians can be when they want to cancel someone. If the bill become law, I hope they begin investigating those celebrities' past involvement.

The thing here be say, watin person no know big pass them. Na watin Dey worry most of our people be that, especially those of them way no Dey this forum. Them Dey far from truth as possible with limited knowledge on which is which coin or token to invest in or not.
Most of them no know the difference between security and utility token.
Armed with this knowledge, people way Dey create pump and dump coin Dey use am exploit our people. With their influence as celebrities having large followers, you go find people stepping in, in their numbers to express support and fandom.
Watin con be fandom when na you them Dey use make money and you get nothing…

Na nice step by FG to criminalize these behaviors by public figures.

You are right but on this case the bone of contention is not on that because what we are actually looking at is the harm most person that stole a smaller amounts had caused than the person who stole big amount just like Igebotz mentioned, however if perhaps you were actually the judge and they brought a case of two criminals that one person stole a little amount but the victim could not survive because of what the money meant to him, while the second person stole a bigger amount and the victim is fine who would you give the highest sentence?, actually the question is not to justify the person his victim is alive but is just to show that the level and seriousness they would take the criminal that has dead victim will be a little bit different from the other person.

Can such people actually be arrested? Let's not forget that In Nigeria, money speaks for you. I remembered when davido launched his obo coin back then and everyone was rushing to invest as they were fans of davido. The coin pumped massively over night due to the population of his fans not just in Nigeria but all over the world that had shows interest in his token. When he dump happened, some complained, but no one really filed a complaint against him that he did scam his fans of their funds.

So yea even if such bills are passed into law, there are many Nigerians who are above the law. They might be said to have been persecuted but who really knows if it's true? Once such person pays a huge amount of funds to the officials in charge, their cases will be closed and a big lie will be passed across to the public so to make them calm..

This is a right call in the right direction concerning Ponzi scheme operators who are in the habit of defrauding innocent Nigerian all in the name of crypto currency investment it will serve as a lesson to those who have plans of going into fraud, am in total support of the move as allot of people has brought bad name to  the crypto world in Nigeria

I know that in the sight of the law, someone who stole huge amount of money receives more punishment than the one who stole little amount regardless of whom their victim is, but looking at it more deeply, they both deserves equal punishments because if that person who stole a little amount of money has the opportunity to steal huge amount, he will gladly do it without fear. The only difference there is just that the both of them didn't steal from same person or steal equal amount of money. Perhaps, the one that stole small amount of money from someone who don't have enough money can graduate from stealing small amounts to a bigger level and becomes a nuisance to the public.

I believe in the eyes of the law, such act is a crime and an offense punishable by law but however, one would be judged with sympathy from the judge of the law court depending on the gravity of the crime while the other might likely face  a harsh judgement for being so cruel and wicked and with a tougher punishment to say but in all, the law sees them as offenders and punishable for the crime they have committed and it is left for the law court judge to take its course on them for justice to prevail.

In most cases, the gravity of the crime is more important than the amount involved. For example, if you scam someone for N100 and cause them to commit suicide or lose their livelihood, you're more likely to spend your life in prison than if you scam someone for N10 million and don't cost them their life

Now, which of these crooks deserves tougher punishment: someone who took N1 million from someone with N100 million or someone who stole N20k from someone with only N21k in their account?

The law doesn't care much about the fine but being convicted of a crime is enough damage on your reputation already and it destroys every hope of you ruling the country or occupying important political offices. It also go as far as not allowing you to visit some certain countries as some countries do not allow convicted felony into their countries or offer any job for them.

You do not expect someone that stole 2 billion to cough out the same amount, being convicted of the crime is enough judgement.

There is something I notice about our representatives in d government house,  anything that will not favour dem, it will be difficult for dem to approve it for citizens to enjoy, if u look at those people forming celebrities in d country, u will no that dey are children of d people in d government position or dey have influence to d highest authority in d country which dey will never allow such law to hold their children or relatives to spend some years in prison, I nearly fall victim to that scam token dey launched, hoping it will bring good name to naija celebrities if people make income from d token, but it cause people to loss millionaires and those naija celebrities that used that token to scam people go free without d invitation of EFCC, and Senate house, if house of representatives and Senate house can approve d proposes to protect d image of crypto and their users, I think it will make many people to no d important of crypto.

Na nice way to go be dat. I hope the National Assembly will speed it up and make it stand. At least all those scammers as celebrities go begin exercise caution because dem go sabi sey na prison dem dey play wit if dem ever try am. D things wey David, Sabinus, Brainjotter and many crypto influencers like dat one on SM who calls himself the most influential crypto person in Africa living large in Dubai, nor good at all. Imagine how loved those celebrities were (I'm sure that trust and love have been badly damaged now) but they played on the ignorance of their fans. Na David first try am last bull run and as there was no repercussions na im make more celebrities join am dis bull season. If this isn't checkmated, more will join sooner than we expect it.

Only those who are not from this country would be expecting justice to take its course because we all know that there's nothing like justice in this country, we've got laws but those laws are only applicable to poor masses, the less imfluencial and the financial derailed, and if for any reason you choose to take laws into your own hands, they make an example outta you and others use your case to learn.

Just few months ago, a video of a so called senator was trending all over social media where he literally harassed a citizen of the country and clearly stated that no one in the country had the power to oppose him, not even the IGP or anyone in the country, and what happened? The matter was swept under the carpet and truly, no one did anything about it. I'm pretty sure if this unapologetic attitude was portrayed by an ordinary citizen, he'd be rotting in jail now. The government has absolutely no regard for humanity, they only care about their selfish interests and nothing more.

I no dey too follow many cases of internet fraud in our country, but i think say e go dey based on the amount of money wey the internet fraudster steal and how much (both in cash and properties) was forfeited when arrested. Anytime wey dem convict internet fraudster, dem dey seize their properties, so i believe say that wan follow for why dem dey get light sentencing. Money laundering on its own na bigger offense than internet fraud, i no really know much about the penalties for tax evasion in Nigeria.

In as much as SEC newly proposed bill to the senate sounds interesting especially as it is channeled to put an end to Ponzi scam in Nigeria, we all know that if successful, will only be applicable to the poor masses. The main culprits will continue fearlessly as "they are above the law".

The senate on the other hand, will not even take it seriously because they are not benefiting anything directly from it, whilst the authorities responsible for punishing offenders will only see it as an opportunity to collect bribe.

I acknowledge the actions taken by the SEC at least it will put an end to the series of scam that has been done by the celebrities in the country, the trend was going to affect crypto traders in the country and Bitcoin investors would have been affected more because when ever you talk about cryptocurrency in the country Bitcoin will always be mentioned in the mouth of the people because most of them only know Bitcoin as the only cryptocurrency.

As the cryptocurrency scam which more than two celebrities has promoted and used to scam people, I'm expecting the SEC to also implement laws against promotion of other fake news by the celebrities because millions of Nigerians has been scammed as a result of what the celebrities promote.

Okay. First of this is a welcome development in the crypto ecosystem in Nigeria as I understand that this bill is not going to deter or reduce crypto scam schemes but will also encouraged more crypto investors into the market.

Unfortunately, Nigeria is known for its attractive laws but lacking in implementation according to the letter especially when it has to do with influential and wealthy personalities getting to fault the laws. You see a situation where a scammer scams the community of #100 million scam but is told to pay back #20 million as fine option.

I think the laws against crypto scammers would need to be given a different approach from other conventional laws and it should be strictly applied to send a strong message intending scammers and also make potential investors feel some sense of security within the space too.

Never seen anyone in Nigeria sentenced to jail for Internet fraud without an option of fine and the fines are always within 100k- 200k. Internet fraud cases are not as strict as other financial crimes cases like tax evasion and money laundering.



This is the same bill, it was never implemented under the last administrator

Some scammers are using celebrities' pictures to commit fraud on various token or gambling sites. If celebrities are involved in token fraud, they should be punished. Sometimes, if fraudsters have launched Ponzi schemes by using their pictures or videos, it should be investigated and innocent people should not be punished. Many prominent people on social media use pictures or AI videos to promote various tokens or crypto currencies and create inspiration among ordinary people and fall into the trap of fraud by investing. Social awareness is needed to protect your funds from the eye-catching ads spread on social media and you have a responsibility to keep the people around you aware of this.

Yes, the celebrity you are talking about is involved in this and this should be known to the crypto people in Nigeria and he is not sorry now. Enacting the bill introduced in the Senate soon to bring guilty ponzi scheme operators to justice could help prevent future crypto-related crimes.

This is a good move from the sec. I think the bill will pull through and will not be abandoned, because the politicians are not benefiting directly from the crypto Ponzi schemes that are perpetuated by these so called celebrities. You and I know the political class of this country very well, anything that's not benefiting them directly, they will make sure they bring it down. So I strongly believe that this bill will pull through and won't be abandoned. If this country can be coming up with meaningful bills as this one, I think we are heading on the right track. Because I wonder why the so called celebrities will lunch a coin just to defraud their loyal fans. But the problem is even if they sentence a celebrity for lunching a Ponzi crypto scheme, and the person is convicted. With the level of corruption in this country will the celebrity serve the jail term? Well let them do it for doing sake, at least it will reduce the influx of crypto Ponzi scheme in the country.

I can’t recall that a bill like this was passed under the Buhari government but since we can’t see the impact of it and can see a rise in the number of Ponzi scheme in Nigeria today, that means that bill was never implemented. I really like this bold move taken by this administration to clamp down on this Ponzi schemes that celebrities are using as clickbait to lure their followers and those newbies into crypto space by scamming them of large amount of money. This is to say that the Nigerian government is aware of their scandals and how they earn money from people through this means.

They are actually tarnishing the image of cryptocurrency and any newbie that got into the space through this means and are scammed off their money, they may never trust or have anything to do with cryptocurrency because they’ll term it as an illegal or Ponzi scheme that people make money from which in the real sense it is never it. The Nigerian government have sent a big warning and it’ll go through to them, the influencers to think twice if they’re ever trying to do something like this again as it’s now a new trend for them. I hope the bill gets implemented and action is taken immediately on those found wanting of it.

Is a good move by the Nigerian security and exchange Commission to have seen the overview of the selfish interest of those celebrities in taking advantage of the vulnerable Nigerians who are looking for a way to survive the hardship, however I hope the government will implement it because this is the kind of bill that shouldn't be talking likely because it does not only protect the poor citizens but also the reputation of our beloved country in view of the world, actually is good they make this move so that the government will no those there motive are for scamming people and this measure will certainly reduce the scamming rate in the country because nobody would want to spend 10 years in jail.

This story no dey as people think am, many people no dey like read the full story before drawing their conclusion. Yes dem been sentence this student to 14 years imprison, but with an option to pay a fine of N200,000. We know say him go pay the fine, he was charged with 7 counts, so the judge give am 2 years on each count, but with the option of fine.
You say Emefiele dey live large? Lol. When last you see am, he is looking like someone who has added 25 years to his age in just a few months. He is still in DSS custody and the case against him is not dead.

The "law" lol — if we're all being honest it only happens to the poor man / average man. The rich are exempted from it or do you think someone like a top musician (whose name I won't mention) that have promoted countless ponzi schemes and scams in the past but didn't even get off with a slap on the wrist. Or is it the law against spraying of bank notes at parties that rich people still do and don't goto jail for? We have already forgotten Yamaha bello.

My point is, passing a bill like this is one thing, the implementation is never possible as long it affects all classes of people.

I became worried when I saw this trend gradually scaling up, because this would have painted Bitcoin and crypto Business in Nigeria so badly if this trend had continued, and where it would have given birth to many different scams, and where this may lead to clear reason for the agency in charge to now place permanent ban on crypto transactions in Nigeria. I could recall one big name celebrity that got involved in this scam coin,  this celebrity don't in any way have the suffering masses at heart, they're only concerned about how they would enrich their pockets, But thanks to the SEC for doing their job by swinging into action when it was supposed. This is the sole reason for that commission.

In as much as I wouldn't support any form of illegalities and fraudulent before regardless of the magnitude, I don't support this idea of having the small boys and probably less privileged to suffer he full wrath of the law probably because they cannot afford a good lawyer or they happen to have almost no influence in the society so anything can be done to them and they be used to set as examples to others meanwhile we know the obvious ones who are extorting the nation and stealing from the national reserve for their own personal benefits yet they don't get jail terms but to continually appear in court till the case is thrown away, such a sad and biased justice system.

Here we go again!. Another news headline that puts the Nigeria security and exchange commission in front of all newspapers. We all know that every law and bill that has been brought and passed in this country are always one sided, and doesn't governed everyone in the country. Okay fine, the Senates finally approve the bill, will the davido and sabinus incident be raised?, Or the SEC will treat them as old cases and start a fresh job?.

The real people that we are losing billions of naira to are just there. I think this bill won't make any changes.

Because we believe there is no active law in the country and they don't punish the offenders, and judgement is always biased, that does not mean that we should not have those laws set in the first place.

one thing I know for sure is that we can not always be getting expected result from all cases but every criminal can't go scort free and if their is existing laws then what's needed is to be pressured, this is not just common here in Nigeria but also in other countries their are some elite which are protected they get punished for their crimes but not to the extent we might want

This is a good step in the right direction for our SEC to protect innocent Nigerians from these scam projects that our celebrities and other criminal minded persons with the intentions of scamming their fans and others that are not knowledgeable about cryptocurrency, that it is a hub for scammers. But my worry is the same as most members that have commented on this thread, our main problem in this country is not enacting laws but the execution of the laws and from my observation in this our country, laws are meant for the ordinary citizens. We've seen cases where the high and might will commit crime and nothing will happen to them but if an ordinary person commits less than that crime, the full weight of the law will come down on the person.

This move by SEC will go a long way to sanitize the crypto space in Nigeria, so that people will not label every cryptocurrency as scams, that is if every offenders are punished I hope that the proposed law will be passed by the legislatures and our judiciary will have the intergrity to prosecute whoever is found guilty, no matter the position of the person in the society, that is the kind of action that will deter Nigerians with criminal intentions to scam people.

Emefiele's own case was handled in a more better way, I'm not in support of his act but atleast he got embarrassed by the present government through the DSS and even though we know he'll be living his normal lifestyle in anywhere they kept him and claim it's a prison atleast he's been shamed by the public and some of the money he laundered has been recovered by the government, although we know they won't put it to good use. My pain is concerning yahaya bello that committed same crime and he's roaming scot-free with the so called security personnels we have claiming they don't know his whereabout. The question is, how then could they locate all these fraudsters they apprehend daily? If they could channel same early to our corrupt law makers and government officials I think it would help reduce the lootings here and there, it show how corrupt our security system is, they favour the rich and persecute the poor which is very bias.

I get your point and doubt the culprits will be punished even though the bill has just been introduced and already approved. I welcome the passage of a bill and the establishment of a judicial process that will prevent future criminals from launching bogus Ponzi schemes to defraud. Eminent persons and celebrities have tarnished the image of the country along with themselves by involving themselves in lucrative projects and they should be properly punished and those who have been cheated should be given proper compensation.

It is true that the administration has a lot of leeway in taking legal action against prominent people and I expect that the bill will continue to be effective as it becomes law very soon.

Crypto investor confidence in the government should be further enhanced by ensuring the protection of the crypto space and the protection of investors from fraudsters.

Buddy you and I know that this is just another propaganda to make the Nigerian SEC look proactive in the sight of the public and feeling a sense of action towards the disheartening menace ousted by these web2 and web3 exploiters, If I read correctly, this bill was passed under the former president administration and it was not adopted and now it is being passed again under an even worse administration, what is the guarantee that it would even be adopted, and if it is finally adopted, what is the guarantee that it would be enforced on the big players?

Both of us know very well that these laws are just for the newbies in the industry and not in any way going to indict the big players, a clear-cut example is


while only the immediate past CBN governor Emefiele stole billions in the naira redesign policy and is living large while the case against him is as good as dead. Justice in Nigeria is compromised and the less influential are made to face the law while we keep seeing big players being above the law and escaping justice from time to time and there is no guarantee that this law being vetted now would clamp down top musicians or influencers or even politicians who already has influence in the government and bring them to justice.

Pumping and dumping coins  and promoting ponzi schemes is a normal thing now in Nigeria, but it is important to note that these schemes are backed by some notable big boys undercover. I was discussing about these pump and dump schemes with a friend and he advised me to create a coin if I can and bring $5000 for promoting it, he mentioned to me that he knows some big boys that can invest $30000 each into it so that we can pump it and dump when significant investments starts coming in. I had to reason from two angles immediately, the guy might be an instant scammer looking for an opportunity to scam me of $5k or there might be some really big players out there financing these schemes from their hideouts and I doubt the law can catch up with them. Scamming now is done from many angles and even if the small players are brought to justice, these big players undercover would still continue the bad job and constantly escape justice with their influence.

I agree with you. What this so-called crypto scammers does is that on luching a new coin they  keep like 30 to %40 of the total supply of their coin to themselves and release %70 to %60 to the community making the coin a little bit more  scarce and making the demand high because people believe in that when a coin is scarce it attracts demand. By then people will be triggered to buy more and more then at the pick when they se that alot of liquidity has been added and the market cap is becoming higher at their own risk, they sell their %30-%40 knowing that the higher the price goes the riskier it is to them because sensitive investors may sell and left them with rugpul. So they become fast to sell and dump it on the investor. Investors sell and dump to the people who bought to HODl not knowing the coin is dead and can never grow again. So this tactics has been in existence for long and that is why we have so much pump and dump coin.

Even though it is not only Nigerians who does this but Nigerian has been labled on this. So I am in support on this. let it be implemented and let see how this goes. I know  even this has been signed to bill and its working effectively, people will still see Nigerians as not being God by foreigners but at least let it start and gradually it will take it full course.

For Ponzi schemes no doubt but ponzi schemes can come in different ways but it still involves investing... and most people seem to be using crypto as ponzi scheme maybe to those that has little or no knowledge about it , probably advert of people telling people to invest in some kinda unknown coin or likes ( there was a trending in the early 21, I think pink or so couldn't remember the name again,  they even gave card to people ).. apart from this, I think any one can do a rug pull, it's not really an illegal stuff though some people had been arrested from rug pulling before and that's related to NFT  I think and NFT is more like a crappy space at the moment... that's why people need to know what they are investing on besides, most people just gambles it.
If rug pull seem to be part of what they mean then it will come to identifying the identity of such person ( if the person the make a physical connection... it's simple ) but for ponzi schemes generally it's cool, it's going to get rid of those  people

This is a good move by the SEC even though it is already coming late because Nigerians have passed through hell in the hands of scammers using different level of ponzi schemes to shortchange their fellow citizens. It will difficult to even find a Nigerian, that is active on the internet and following up on crypto, who have not been a victim of one of those schemes because they make it look so legit.

My only worry is if they will be able to enforce this given the peculiarity of Nigeria where there are so many loopholes and people gey away with punishable offenses. Whatever be the case, this is a good move by the authorities.

I never see my country as people wey serious to implement things. Sometimes them go get good ideas but implementation go be the wahala. This one of Ponzi scheme in the name of creating coins, I don cry for this matter for long time. The ignorant people go dey hail the criminals say dem dey into crypto, without knowing say na scammers dem be. If the government go fit fish them out, I go happy well well. This industry needs urgent and total sanitisation and sensitisation make people for dey aware.

Another wahala be say, police and other agencies go come dey use am even against innocent people wey no dey crypto Ponzi. Na the reality of we country.

This is a very good and intelligent bill from the NSEC, it will go a very long way to crub and reduce fraudster into ponzi in our country, with our present economic challenge,these fraudster don't even feel sorry for the citizens,they just map out their plans and start frauding people of their hard earned money,some even go as far as  borrowing to invest in their ponzi.
They render people cashless and homeless because in the bit to make more money,some persons sold off their building and valuables ,some have even lost their lives due to depression of these fake ponzi operators,and that is why a lot of persons don't believe you when you approach them, and trying to introduce and telling them how genuine Bitcoin investment is, they, compare Bitcoin with others and feel is a scam.
I am happy that for once, this government has taught it wise to see to this aspect of its citizens and bring a lasting solution this problem.

Yes. However, when the creator removes all liquidity and new investors are obliged to pay liquidity to existing investors at the peak, the scheme transforms into a Ponzi.

Davido exited the coin and dumped the coins, those who still held them were unable to sell and have to wait for fresh buyers to provide liquidity for existing SELL orders.

It became, Paul paid Peter, Alex paid Paul......

I do not know much about the bill but it lacks clarity with the news. Ponzi scheme means you are luring investors to invest in a product, but which are lies as there is no product, but using late investos money to pay early investors. This is different from pyramidal scheme and some other hyip. Also this is different from the token that Davido created on Solana network to scam people. As long as such offers does not lead to exit scam, I do not think this kind of crypto means of making money from people would be among punishable Ponzi schemes. It is not even a Ponzi scheme by definition but effective like Ponzi scheme in making money. If it is cryptocurrencies, people should know how this works. No one I have read of even abroad that was imprisoned because of a crypto project become dumped and price fall.

Laws are not made based on emotions; the 10-year jail term is enough if you ask me; beside, they are also subjected to paying the sum of $12,000 as part of the punishment for their crime, or #20,000,000, and the case of someone caught operating such a business will defer depending on the gravity of the offence; some properties will be confiscated if found linked to the Ponzi; 10 years is okay with other terms that will be given to them even when they are released. 

Well I go talk say na welcome development, because the rate of scam for the country too much. My country Naija dey use any medium dey scam people and this thing don cause even our bitcoin matter dem don make am look thus like scam. If dem been no use bitcoin for fraudulent activities, no how wey dem for dey label bitcoin a ponzy sceme for those wey no no about bitcoin. I strongly support the SEC for the development and make them pass am into bill. Atleast E go reduce the rate of internet fraud.

where dey fear me pass be say everything is possible for Naija meaning say them fit Catch some people and na money dem go take bail them. and the matter go die isap. But anyway make them first sign am into law make we see how e go be. Atleast na some fit bail themselves, why those wey no get reach 20m no fit afford to baiil themselves. Atleast with that fear go catch dem to reduce the rate of crime.

10 years Jail term should be OKay, it's a financial offense, not murder and shouldn't get sentenced like one. The only changes I would have love to see is if found guilty the scammer is ask to pay at 40% of stolen money to victims and ofcos some part to the FG as fine.


Sometimes they go as low as defending obvious murderers for the sake of stanship.

If the SEC really pulls through with this bill, then they would have achieved a groundbreaking feat in Nigeria. This is because Ponzi schemes, both in the crypto world and the non-crypto world in Nigeria, are getting out of hand. Other countries have even started classifying anything scam with the world "Nigerian prince" equating Nigerians with scammers. This is robbing us of international opportunities. Some people just come up with their own coins and influences, riding on Nigerians innocence and the situation we find ourselves in.

Because we are struggling and trying different things to make money, it's really not fair. Today, it's this coin; tomorrow, it's that coin. The next day, it's another coin. Knowing the current economic condition of Nigerians, we are looking for a breakthrough. People go ahead and try these coins ignorantly, putting their money in and everything is gone.

To think that our fellow Nigerians are the ones coming up with some of these Ponzi crypto schemes is really disheartening. So, if the SEC really passes this bill and it's pushed through and functional over the years, then they would have achieved a really good feat in Nigeria. I just hope the Nigerian syndrome doesn't come into play. They say something today, and tomorrow, those in high office who are part of the Ponzi scheme will look for a way to cripple it and we won't hear about it again.

If they can take it seriously, because some people don't believe in this bill they are passing then it would be a very good thing. It's going to be a good thing for Nigeria as a whole, to redeem our name and to help those in the crypto space. The little money Nigerians have will not be ignorantly used on scams created by our own people and I pray it works out.

sometimes i don't entirely blame this celebrity because a lot of their fanbase allows it look like they are God and that anything that comes from them is authentic. some people already know that some of these project that comes into being through these celebrity won't stand the taste of time but will choose to invest in them just to prove loyalty and just to chase after clout.

when Davido brought up a token, a lot of the people that bought it were only following after trend and didn't find it necessary to do their own research to be sure of the authenticity of the project, the rest of the story we know is just history. should the proposal pull through, its going to be a development that will help a lot of the people that easily fall prey of these.

Honestly, this is a wise decision. Nigerian securities may have taken this seriously when it was presented to the former president. This year, many individuals became victims since our country is not used to dealing with such situations. All of these activities are illegal, but I'm curious why securities couldn't take action for a while now. If the bill had been stated earlier, those who were innocent would not have lost their money. All of these Nigerian celebrities make use of their fans. But I think the BrainJotter coin did not go popular like Davido and Sabinus.

However, our country's problems are difficult to predict at times, it's possible that they won't punish these individuals because they are wealthy, and we might not even hear about them again. Ten years in prison and twenty million is not a little punishment, and if they don't fail this time, it will serve as a warning for others who want to do the same in the future. Perhaps they will show concern for the innocent people who have been affected this time.

This is a very good decision and this will serve as an example for the remaining people who are planning to do this kind of stuff and scam people, if they do not take this kind of decision they will take the country for granted which will make other people believe that Nigeria is a country where you can come with a plan and scam people because they know that people in Nigeria like anything that concern invest and earn a profit, many celebrities have taken Nigeria to a country where they will do something and nothing will happen.

I prefer they should be sentenced to 20 years in jail so that even when they later come out they will never enjoy themself, only God knows how many people will fall into their trap, some people will even go and use their life savings and later if he discovers it was a scam only God knows how he will feel, those people deserve many years in jail and it will be very good if the Nigeria security takes action without corruption in that case because we all know how some of our security behave most especially the EFCC.

First and foremost I commend the Nigeria SEC for this singular act of theirs but as we all know the problem will always be the lower and upper chambers in the national assembly to take this bill serious, if this bill is been passed I think it will correct many things in Nigeria in regards to cryptocurrency.
Many people have been a victim of circumstance to this effect, though Nigeria is a bit backward in terms technology, in  Nigeria today the unwarranted victimization, molestation by EFCC and the suspicion of anything concerning crypto by the Nigeria security agents in general is attributed to as result of the dubious activities been carried out by some corrupt elements in defrauding unsuspicious Nigerians from the so called shitty scam coins, as a matter of urgency, this is a wise decision by the SEC and i will be very happy if the proposed bill finally sees the light of the day without being frustrated by the legislature.

At least with this, things can be done and seen differently in the Nigeria crypto space, it's a welcome development, we hope to see this come through soon.

Plenty of us for here get crypto knowledge, so we no go fit fall for crypto ponzi schemes, but e go so many Nigerians out there wey no know anything about crypto, but of course dem wan make money, so they easily fall prey when these celebrities promote these ponzi schemes and they lose their money through it.

I hope say dem go pass this bill into law, so many people dey only fall for these schemes because dem "trust" the celebrities wey dey promote am. These celebrities suppose they do their homework before advertising anything, but no, dem go just collect their money and promote anything with impunity.

This is a welcome development and I wish and hope it does scale through to the point of proper execution but on a second thought, the Nigerian government isn't in support of the usage of cryptocurrency due to regulatory issues so how then are they proposing a bill that will protect the crypto space, it sounds like a twisted irony to me, I just hope they aren't targeting at something because most times we have seen laws been made just to target a particular set of persons or to make sure to use it to achieve a goal thst will be beneficial to a prominent few, hopefully this isn't one of those schemes but for the protection of the crypto space it will be a good one

I guess the members of Senate are doing well with this proposed, if they can use some groups of people in the country to show example for the people in the country to know they mean what they said, many people have Lost a lot of money for all those scam token, because the celebrities and some politicians will tell their followers that they have made millions of naira from that token which is not true, but many people will fall victim to them in the country to invest everything in the token because they want to be wealthy like those celebrities and politicians.

For someone to spend complete 10 years in jail in Nigeria for such criminality, it will teach others people lesson that is using fake crypto to scam people in Nigeria because some people who don't know the potential of crypto will never agree that crypto can add value to country economy.

na a very good development because a lot of people don take advantage of say a lot of youths no get work and so any Ponzi scheme when come out, them go wan jump on am and then after the money go enter one chance.

all this pump and dump projects and ponzi platforms when full we nija de follow contribute to the fact say people still de associate crypto and bitcoin with Ponzi and so putting a penalty as this in place will go a long way to discourage people from devising to bring up new Ponzi scheme and that way, the system go de purged and bitcoin fit get the expected recognition when him deserve.

the ease in implementation no go worry like that because most of those old men for the house no de directly benefit from those ponzi platforms or the pump and dump project when our celebrity de create. if like say them de benefit from am, we for de sure say such bill is already dead on arrival but as e be say them already the government de somehow against digital things, i believe say them go implement am. but my own be say make them define wetin be ponzi scheme well make e no be say person bring up a project when him presume say go do well and the project come fail you go come de reason jail term for am.

Looking at the overall picture, it is important to point out that Nigeria has been plugging up cryptocurrency opening,In May 2023, the president of the country signed a bill into law that levies a 10 % tax rate on profits made from selling such assets as cryptocurrency, In December 2023, Central Bank of Nigeria also lifted the restrictions placed on the banking institutions in 2021 with respect to the provision of crypto services ‘to customers’ at supra-national level.
Although this Is very significant development for the country's cryptocurrency market,if the SEC regulate the bill and provides clear guidelines for cryptocurrency transactions and also reducing  uncertainty for investors and work hardly on fraudulent prevention  definitely it will help ellevate scams and protect investors if realy the proposed bill is a step towards creating a more secure and attractive cryptocurrency market in Nigeria,its indeed a great success depending on effective implementation and  collaboration.

https://www.mariblock.com/nigerian-legislators-considering-bill-to-recognize-bitcoin-and-other-cryptocurrencies

It seems we are in the same page here. 2024 became a year where celebrities' took advantage of their influence to scam their fans and other person of their money. Before then i usually though it was illegal in many countries especially to have an owned token or crypto. This will only mean that these celebrities' work with the legal teams often that is why they are not apprehend for all they do.

Twitter (X), TikTok and YouTube has been the means to which this celebrities operates.

The decision on the bill should stand quickly if not we wont see fast adoption in the crypto space if these scammers keep on soiling the mind of enthusiast.

After reading through i felt a warm relief in my mind. And this is because i am impressed for this development that is about to take place. In as much as people are eager to make quick bulk they are so vulnerable that they hardly can differentiate a real project or a fake one. This move will help eradicate those with bad intentions to stay clear from this part. At least if not completely, we will see less of it.

I know how many persons around me who are willing to invest into digital technologies especially cryptocurrency but are scared to start. And for developers in Nigeria who are willing to shape the country to a better place, they wont be hiding anymore to pitch their project to potential investors anymore. Transparency will be among citizens if this bill will be committed to.


Anyone can own a project in the crypto space now, even you too can own one. The projects owned by celebrities are literally memecoins that are hyped or influenced by the so called influencers and their associates. And the annoying part is that fans will still buy those coins knowing full well it has no usage or value to offer. They are blinded with the love and passion they have fans, its just like subscribing to an onlyfans account. People will keep buying the coins.

This is a welcomed development but the only problem with proposals like this is that it is hard to enact and even harder to enforce especially if the celeb caught has close relationships with law enforcements, they'll just get away with a slap on the wrist. This is why I'm not too excited about the bill. We would still see celebs supporting ponzi schemes and launching their own pump and dump tokens to their unsuspecting followers. Until I see one celeb arrested and put in jail, nah. Not buying it.

I would like to know, what are the necessities to owning a project. Many celebrities that has been called out for owning a pump and dump token so far does not even look eligible to own any because they barely have any useful or potential traits that omits a sense of having relevant outcomes. You just wake up in the morning and hear rumors of celebrities scamming their users with fake cryptos, no legitimate promotion and proper marketing that can bring long eligible investors, not even a whitepapers/roadmap for their project that should have reveal the potentials and proven worthy of our funds.

I may partially with due reasoning put the blame on people who chose to be folded by this called influencers and risk their money, anyone with a good knowledge won't even think about risking what they have into something like that.

When i think about how many innocent Nigerians have lost their hard earned money to these Ponzi schemes boys because of quick gains i feel that this bill is what the citizens needs now. The 10 year jail term and N20 million naira fine is the kind of punishment these scammers need and i am cool with it. This will help clear a sound message to others who still intend to go about crypto Ponzi schemes. If they want to hustle then they should do it the clean way like we do here or don't do it at all.

And to be honest, the bill will help protect the entire crypto ecosystem in Nigeria. So that if any foreign investors hear about Nigeria they don't get to think about Ponzi shemes as the first thing to cross their mind. At least the mindset of Nigerians being scammers would change. People will see crypto and Nigeria as its meant to be.

This i cannot complete say for sure that the bill will be accepted because the current government has not shown any much difference from the recent. However, during the time of Buhari things were a bit new to some persons, especially crypto was still a new things, so people don't understand it much. But now, i believe crypto is not a new thing to anyone in the rural area anymore. One way or another they must have heard about it. So, lets back the bill and support the motion. Its a huge step forward.

You can't blame them for spending blindly; instead, blame celebrities for exploiting their fans' emotions and love to hype and promote a fake businesses. A celebrity that loves and respects his fans will never mishandle them or take their money.

This is why it is never a good idea for celebrities to own a crypto project. If you believe in anything, you will be willing to follow it to the death; there are those who would follow Elon Musk to the grave if given the opportunity.

For the fact that Nigeria does not follow by the rules initiated when the walls collapses around the wealthy, fines might be attached but for the sentencing it is not even among the punishment if they should be convicted. No body with their right senses should be opposing against this bill, we all love to keep the space free from scam and enable a safe room for new investors to partake in this digital space were assets like Bitcoin and others are worth putting our money inside.

Aside this bill being passed, it is enough that we also play our roles by being conscious of how we delve into stuffs that has higher possibility of not being real enough to give back what we put inside, for no reason should we enslave our funds all in the name of celebrities promoting and managing assets, the rich would go all measures just to keep their pocket filled because they have a counter back up for their crime and punishment and it won't be as that of a common individual.

Whether the proposed bill is implemented or not, only by mentioning it alone will send a warning signal to those influencers and celebrities who uses pump and dump coin to defraud and deceive their followers to invest in shit projects because one thing about Nigerians is that when one person does something bad and gets away with it, others follow in same directions. The rate at which some celebrities go about promoting crypto scam projects is on the rise, so if the bill is passed, it will help reduce the number of all these incessant scam projects that influencers promote just for their own selfish interests.

I'll love if this gets through but we know Nigeria and how they don't care much about things relating to crypto. The bail might fail to get its final reading but it would had been good for the crypto community as it protects us against this celebrities that aren't satisfied with the money that they have already but trying to steal the little ones that we have. Well, we get ourselves to blame because this celebrities, they no force us to buy their tokens. Na out of our greed na him make we dey invest and also invest more than our capacity to endure the loss.

We already know how this type of tokens dem they end yet we go still carry our money go put inside. At times I dey feel say we deserve wetin we dey get because assuming we stop to dey buy all this token, dem go stop to dey create am but na because we dey buy everything wey we see because we think say crypto na Ponzi, na wetin make we dey become victims.

This bill if successful would help save the Nigeria crypto community from being labeled scammers. Anyone who does set up such crypto ponzi scheme should go in for it. It is time the rich also dance to the tone of music they play for the masses and know how it feels to rip investors and do away with it that nobody  would question them. The era of such nonsense is abruptly coming to an end but the truth is that there should not be a compromise amongst ranks  to making sure justice is served to whomever commits such an offense.

The #20m fine is too small for the kind of scheme they pull with such event. They do that in dollar and fine for naira which we all know the exchange value. Maybe they should step up the game so that those pulling such scheme would not think of it or they stand to face a big risk that they would never be in a haste to forget so quickly for scamming the masses. If it were the US, the punishment would be far higher than this.

Of course this is a very good news for crypto enthusiasts, atleast the victims of those crypto ponzi would get their justice finally, but the I don't trust these so called law makers cause they favour the high class citizens and serve justice to poor citizens that go against laws, this is something that's been normalized to a while and I doubt if a senator or one of those ponzi celebrities would face the law if they go against it.
 Imagine arresting  Davido or any top celebrities that go against that law, atleast Davido is a culprit and if they're really serious with it they should start by persecuting him or refund his victims money. However do you think they'll jail him for 10years, I doubt and my though is that it would scale through but the rich would go scot-free only the poor and some middle class would suffer the consequences of going against that law.

I think majority of the masses will support this bill but my issues here is that some of these celebs might be able to bribe their way out instead of actually serving the 10 years jail terms.  We saw the whole allegations when Very Darkman review the truth about Bobrisky not spending up to 6 months in prison, I wonder how they will handle big names like Davido in such aspects who will be able to pay amount that will make the prison sentence possibly slides or reduce to months and enjoy good prison.

Anyway corruption is inevitable but this bill after it has been accepted will reduce the chances of this happening and many big names will have to think if this scam really worth it, especially in comparison to how much they will spend to get out from the law.

I will say this is a nice initiative, because is getting too much, most  of these celebrities easily get away with their deed due to their money and fame. Alot of people have gotten themselves rekt because of all these Ponzi scheme especially the ones done by celebrities, due to the fact that most of them are well known celebrities, most folks easily trust them and invest in anything they are promoting and endup with disappointment.

Now and days Any coin own by any celebrities , I don't even think of investing my money in it because of the previous experience folks has experienced from their projects, I just hope that they will use fairness in this stuff , because most folks are literally kinda above the law they can easily have their way .

I'm not sure how fast the senate house are quick to pass bill when it doesn't involves were they will have their own share, they just approved Tinubu bills to borrow 2.2 billion to strengthen our reserves, you can see how quick those guys are in favour of things to their king but wouldn't fasten anything at the interests of Nigeria. I hope this doesn't get in the trash because I will like to see many of our celebraties call to order with their foolishness to promote brands for quick money.

There is this particular brand that has existed when MMM came to Nigeria, it's Ractsterli, the Ponzi scheme died together when Ponzi schemes were exposed that time but Davido advertised that company again to his fans and followers and they exited quickly yet nothing was done about it. Just because you are celebrity doesn't mean you have to be heartless to mislead people, it need to stop. If this bill is passed and approved, it will cripple the trend of Ponzi scheme in Nigeria completely including the once people do lowkey and banks doesn't help people recover their money.

If the new bills is passed, the SEC will be able to arrest and persecute anyone involved now, unlike the usual " do not invest" announcement they usually posts when Ponzi scheme is around cause they have no jurisdiction to persecute anyone, but with this new bill alot is going to change. A 10 years Jail term or option fine of 20m should be enough for Davido, Sabinus, Brainjotter and co from another pump and dump projects.

The rules have always been for the poor, but the rich are not always lucky. Sometimes they are persecuted.

Of course it's a good move but we usually have issues of comprise in this country and that is a very big challenge to the SEC.

This proposal if passed to bill successfully, the same issues of comprise that happens with the EFCC will definitely be the challenge of the bill because in this nation it seems that there are some people who are above the law and when caught with issues relatable because of their personality and family backgrounds cases are swept under the carpets but the ordinary man suffers the law.

The target in my opinion would not long be on the big names who steal huge amounts but on the ordinary citizens who carries out crypto related transactions and AFAIK the other instructions by CBN to investigate crypto related transactions has not been ruled out yet hence the poor masses might be the once to face this new rules that is about to be implemented.

For the bill to scale through it will have to be presented in the senate house and if one third of the senators agrees to the bill then it will stand but if the opposite happens then the bill will only remain a bill and not law/regulations yet and might die off as time goes on.

Earlier this year, some celebrities and prominent personalities launched pump and dump token, Ponzi schemes to defraud their followers and other innocent Nigerians, taking advantage of the country's current economic circumstances to steal millions of Naira from investors to fund their lavish lifestyle. The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a bill to the Senate that would require convicted Ponzi scheme operators to serve a 10-year jail sentence and pay N20 million. This is a courageous step to protect our crypto space and further stop tarnish the reputation of the crypto community in Nigeria.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nairametrics.com/2024/11/18/nigerian-crypto-industry-endorses-bill-proposal-to-jail-ponzi-operators/%3famp=1

What do you guys think about the new bill proposal? Will it scale through or abandoned just like the old proposed bill under Buhari Govemment.