The Securities and Exchange Commission has flagged a new meme coin, ‘PUNISHER COIN’ (also known as ‘SPUN’), as illegal and not approved for public issuance.

In a public notice on Saturday, the commission noted that promoters/issuers of the meme coin are not registered to operate in any capacity in the country’s capital market, “and also PUNISHER COIN (SPUN) is not approved by the Commission for issuance to the public.”

SEC explained that its preliminary investigations have revealed that PUNISHER COIN (SPUN) is a meme coin. “Meme coins generally have no use case, intrinsic value or tangible projects backing them. Any attributed value to meme coin is usually linked to its promoters or the community effort which most 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,” it said.

According to the commission, once the promoters dump their coins and stop hyping the coin, the coin price typically falls, and investors lose money. It advised the public to refrain from engaging in the purported presale of the meme coin, as any person who invests in the scheme is doing so at their own risk.

It further noted that people investing should always verify the authenticity of crypto/virtual or digital assets, the registration status of their promoters and trading platforms via its portal: https://home.sec.gov.ng/fintech-and innovation-hub-finpert/registered-fintech-operators/.

Under the new Investment and Securities Act 2025, digital assets are now officially under the SEC’s regulatory scope, requiring all virtual asset service providers and digital asset exchanges to register with the commission.

Over recent months, the SEC has heightened its enforcement actions, publicly calling out companies operating without proper regulatory approvals. This aligns with its broader mandate to protect investors, ensure financial transparency, and uphold the integrity of the capital market.

In May, SEC issued a public warning against Property World Africa Network (PWAN) and its associated platform, PWAN MAX and Silverkuun Investment Cooperative Society.