Fraud Alert: SEC warns Nigerians against ZugaCoin, Samzuga GPT cryptocurrencies

*The Securities and Exchange Commission cautions investors against Zugacoin and Samzuga GPT cryptocurrencies, stating the duo were not approved for issuance to the public, and their promoters or issuers were not registered to operate in the capital market space in Nigeria

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

As part of its consumer protection initiatives, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cautioned Nigerians and the general public against investing their hard-earned money in Zugacoin and Samzuga GPT.

SEC, which noted this in a statement Wednesday, June 18, 2025, flagged the two instruments as unauthorised crypto assets in the country.

The market regulatory Commission said the promoters or issuers of Zugacoin and Samzuga GPT were not registered to operate in any capacity in the Nigerian capital market ecosystem.

The statement also noted that the cryptocurrencies were not approved for issuance to the public.

It stated: “Preliminary investigations revealed that ZUGACOIN and SAMZUGA GPT are Meme coins.

“Meme coins generally have no use case, intrinsic value, or tangible projects backing them.”

The market regulator further explained: “Any attributed value to meme coin is usually linked to its promoters, or the community effort which more often than not are susceptible to pump and dump schemes (a form of fraudulent activity that involves promoters spreading false or misleading information to create a buying frenzy that ‘pumps’ up the price of a ‘coin’ and then ‘dumps’ the coin by selling their own coins at the inflated price.

“Once the promoters dump their coins and stop hyping the coin, the coin price typically falls and investors lose money).”

SEC, therefore, advised the Nigerian public to refrain from engaging in the purchase or promotion of crypto coins or any of their variants.

Any person who invests in the scheme does so at his/her own risk, said the Commission.

The statement further warned: “The Commission similarly reminds the investing public of the need to always VERIFY the authenticity of crypto/virtual or digital assets, the registration status of their promoters and trading platforms via the Commission’s dedicated portal: https://home.sec.gov.ng/fintech-and-innovation-hub-finport/registered-fintech-operators/ or www.sec.gov.ng/cmos before engaging in any form of virtual or digital assets investment.”

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