nigeria

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Nigeria has created a high-level Virtual Asset Council to coordinate national crypto regulation under a new executive order.
President Tinubu signed a Presidential Executive Order creating a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria to oversee digital asset policy.
The Council and related measures aim to move Nigeria from fragmented rules and informal bans toward clearer registration, consumer protection, and institutional-grade crypto oversight.
Over the next 30 days, the Council must design a rollout framework, making implementation details and tax policy the key things to watch for users and businesses.
Deep Dive
1. What Nigeria Just Set Up
According to a detailed community report on the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, Nigeria has established a new Virtual Asset Council to coordinate crypto oversight across agencies, effective immediately under constitutional authority.
The Council is chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as vice chairs, and includes the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Office of the National Security Adviser as members. A dedicated virtual asset office inside the CBN will handle day-to-day coordination and information sharing through an integrated platform, without creating a new standalone regulator.
This order formalizes roles: SEC Nigeria handles securities-linked tokens and registration, CBN covers payments, settlement and custody for non-security virtual assets, and the Council arbitrates any jurisdictional grey areas. The CBN is also tasked with running a regulatory sandbox for exchanges and startups, while the Revenue Service designs a dedicated tax policy for virtual assets, as outlined in the executive order explainer.
2. How It Changes The Crypto Landscape
The executive order explicitly targets fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing while trying to avoid adding extra bureaucracy. Previously, agencies worked in silos, leaving gaps exploited by unregistered operators and sometimes wiping out savings; the Council is meant to close those gaps.
Nigeria also joins other African countries shifting from blanket restrictions toward formal registration and regulated activity. With one of Africa’s largest crypto-using populations, clearer rules could help stabilize the local industry and make it easier for banks and institutional players to participate, provided the framework stays workable.
Compliance obligations will rise for exchanges, brokers and startups, particularly around registration, reporting and tax. Smaller local projects may feel pressure from higher costs, while better-capitalized or international firms could benefit from having a clearer path to operate legally.
What this means: If you use or build crypto services in Nigeria, expect more emphasis on licensing, KYC and reporting, but also a better chance that serious platforms can operate in a more predictable regulatory environment.
3. What To Watch Next
The Virtual Asset Council has 30 days to propose its rollout framework, making the initial rulebook and sandbox design the most important near-term milestones.
The government is also preparing a broader virtual assets white paper, and the Revenue Service is working on a dedicated tax policy. Together, these will determine whether Nigeria’s approach becomes a catalyst for more local on-chain innovation or a heavier compliance burden that slows activity.
For market participants, key signals will be: which categories of tokens are allowed, how exchanges are licensed, whether peer-to-peer channels are formalized or restricted, and how strictly enforcement is applied once rules go live.
Conclusion
Nigeria’s new Virtual Asset Council marks a decisive move toward coordinated, national-level crypto regulation, shifting the country from fragmented oversight to a structured framework. The real impact will depend on how quickly and pragmatically the Council translates this executive order into workable rules, balancing fraud prevention with room for innovation in one of Africa’s most active crypto markets.$BTC