SEC says Shalom Coin is not registered

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that its attention has been drawn to the activities of certain cryptocurrency promoters advertising a digital token known as Shalom Coin (SHLM) as an investment opportunity purportedly issued on the Ethereum Blockchain as an ERC-20 token.

The Commission also reminded investors and the general public to verify the authenticity of any digital asset, its promoters, and trading platforms through the Commission’s official website – www.sec.gov.ng/cmos – before engaging in any form of digital asset investment.

According to SEC, “preliminary findings by the Commission indicate that Shalom Coin (SHLM) is being promoted across online channels and social media platforms as a “meme coin” or community token, often accompanied by speculative claims of potential investment returns”.

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“The public is hereby informed that the promoters and/or issuers of Shalom Coin (SHLM) are not registered to operate in any capacity in the Nigerian Capital Market. Consequently, Shalom Coin (SHLM) is not approved by the Commission for issuance, trading, or offering to the investing public in Nigeria,” SEC noted in a recent circular.

“Additional findings suggest also that the token’s smart contract includes features which enable the issuer or creator to modify critical parameters such as trading permissions, transaction fees, and total token supply making the risk of a potentially fraudulent crypto-asset schemes very high,” SEC said.

“Members of the investing public are therefore strongly advised to exercise utmost caution in dealing with Shalom Coin (SHLM) or any similar unregistered digital asset, as any person who invests in such products does so entirely at his or her own risk,” SEC noted.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.