Quidax, an African-founded cryptocurrency exchange, is positioning itself to provide the infrastructure and regulatory support for banks, asset managers and fintech companies seeking to introduce stablecoins and other digital assets to their customers as Nigeria’s financial services industry prepares for deeper institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Buchi Okoro, co-founder and chief executive officer of Quidax, said the company expects growing interest from traditional financial institutions and businesses across different sectors seeking to integrate stablecoins into their products and services over the next five years.
The shift could expand the use of digital assets beyond individual traders and cryptocurrency investors, bringing stablecoins closer to mainstream financial services, including payments, cross-border transfers and the management of currency exposure.
Okoro said Quidax intends to become a trusted technology and infrastructure partner for institutions making the transition, with emphasis on regulatory compliance, market education and operational standards.
‘Over the next five years, our focus is on supporting the ecosystem around us. More and more institutions – banks, asset managers, fintechs and businesses across every sector – are considering how to bring stablecoins and digital assets to their own customers.
‘We want to be the trusted partner that helps them on that journey: educating the market, holding ourselves to the highest professional and compliance standards, and building the infrastructure that lets them serve their customers today and well into the future,’ he said.
Okoro spoke on Tuesday at The Exchange, an invitation-only event on stablecoins and digital assets hosted by Quidax in partnership with Tether, issuer of USDT, at the Lagos Continental Hotel. The gathering brought together regulators, financial technology executives, industry leaders and legal and audit professionals.
The proposed institutional expansion comes as Nigeria consolidates its position as one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency markets, with stablecoins increasingly used by individuals and businesses to move money across borders and manage exposure to currency fluctuations.
John Briggs, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Lagos Zonal Office, representing the Commission’s director general, Emomotimi Agama, said Nigeria received more than $92.1 billion in on-chain value between July 2024 and June 2025, making it the largest recipient in Sub-Saharan Africa during the period.
Across the region, on-chain value received exceeded $205 billion, representing an increase of approximately 32 percent year-on-year, according to Chainalysis figures cited by Briggs.
He also said the 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index ranked Nigeria third globally in overall cryptocurrency adoption and first in peer-to-peer activity and cross-border flows.
‘These are not abstract statistics. They are Nigerians who are traders, families, young entrepreneurs, using digital assets, and stablecoins in particular, to move value across borders and manage currency risk,’ Briggs said.
The figures highlight the commercial opportunity for financial institutions seeking to reach customers already using digital assets outside conventional banking channels. They also point to the growing importance of stablecoins in Nigeria’s payments and cross-border financial ecosystem.
However, moving institutional customers into digital assets will require more than access to cryptocurrency trading platforms. Banks and asset managers will need reliable infrastructure, clear compliance arrangements, transparent operations and safeguards that address custody, transaction monitoring and consumer protection.
Okoro said trust would determine whether digital assets could gain wider acceptance among businesses, regulators and customers, arguing that institutions operating in the sector must demonstrate accountability rather than rely solely on technological innovation.
Quidax, which received a provisional licence from the SEC, is seeking to use its regulatory standing to strengthen its position as an intermediary between traditional financial institutions and the digital asset ecosystem.
‘Trust is the new currency. In the physical world, people can walk into a branch, shake a hand and look someone in the eye. In the digital world, they cannot, so trust has to be earned in other ways: through regulation, transparency, and doing the right thing every single day. If your customers, your partners and your regulators cannot trust your business, nothing else you build will matter,’ he said.
For the SEC, the expansion of digital assets into mainstream financial services presents an opportunity to develop a regulated market while addressing the risks associated with a rapidly growing industry.
Briggs said the Commission was determined to ensure that Nigeria’s digital asset market developed on the foundation of trust, particularly as stablecoins become more important to financial transactions.
‘The question before us is not whether digital assets will shape the future of finance in Nigeria. They already do. The question is whether that future will be built on trust. The Commission is determined that it will,’ he said.
The emerging institutional interest could create new opportunities for licensed exchanges and infrastructure providers, but the pace of adoption will depend on how effectively regulators and market participants address operational, compliance and consumer protection concerns.
For Quidax, the opportunity is to move beyond serving individual cryptocurrency users and become part of the underlying infrastructure through which banks, asset managers and businesses deliver digital asset services to their customers.