SEC Declares PUNISHER COIN Illegal, Warns Public Against Risky Meme Coin Investment

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared a new meme coin, ‘PUNISHER COIN’ (also known as ‘SPUN’), illegal and not approved for public issuance in Nigeria. In a public notice released on Saturday, the commission warned that neither the promoters nor issuers of the coin are registered to operate in the nation’s capital market.

According to the SEC, preliminary investigations show that PUNISHER COIN is a meme coin—an asset category often lacking any real-world use case, intrinsic value, or legitimate project backing. The commission explained that such coins derive their value mainly from online hype or promoter-driven campaigns, which are frequently used to manipulate prices in pump-and-dump schemes.

Pump-and-dump schemes involve artificially inflating the value of an asset through misleading publicity before the promoters sell off their holdings at a high price, leaving unsuspecting investors to bear the loss when prices crash. “Once the promoters dump their coins and stop hyping the coin, the price typically falls, and investors lose money,” the commission warned.

The SEC strongly advised the public to steer clear of the ongoing presale of PUNISHER COIN, stressing that anyone who chooses to invest is doing so at their own risk. It further urged investors to verify the legitimacy of any digital asset, its promoters, and the trading platforms involved by consulting its official portal.

Under the new Investment and Securities Act 2025, digital assets now fall fully within the SEC’s regulatory oversight. This means all virtual asset service providers and digital asset exchanges must be registered with the commission before offering services to the public.

The warning against PUNISHER COIN is part of the SEC’s increased efforts to clamp down on unregulated financial activities in the digital space. In recent months, the commission has intensified enforcement actions, targeting companies that operate without proper registration or approval. This move supports its broader mission to protect investors, ensure transparency, and maintain integrity across Nigeria’s capital markets.

In May, the SEC also issued a public warning against Property World Africa Network (PWAN), its platform PWAN MAX, and Silverkuun Investment Cooperative Society for similar regulatory violations.