The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public against investing in Zugacoin and Samzuga GPT, describing them as unauthorised crypto assets.

In a statement on Wednesday, the commission said it became aware of online publications advertising Zugacoin — which includes variants such as SZCB and SZCB2 — and Samzuga GPT, despite their lack of regulatory approval.

The statement read: “The Commission hereby informs the public that the promoters or issuers of Zugacoin and Samzuga GPT are not registered to operate in any capacity in the Nigerian Capital Market, and also Zugacoin and Samzuga GPT are not approved by the Commission for issuance to the public.

“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.

“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.

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

Accordingly, the commission advised the public to refrain from purchasing or promoting the aforementioned digital coins, “or any of their variants, as any person who invests in the scheme does so at his/her own risk.”

The SEC urged investors to always verify the authenticity of any crypto, digital, or virtual assets and confirm the registration status of promoters and trading platforms before investing.