Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has signed an executive order designed to close regulatory gaps in the country’s booming cryptocurrency market, which saw approximately $59 billion in inflows between July 2023 and June 2024, according to International Monetary Fund data. The directive, announced on Friday, establishes a Virtual Asset Council—referred to by some sources as a Virtual Assets Commission—to coordinate oversight among existing financial, tax, and capital market agencies without creating a new regulator.
Presidential special adviser Bayo Onanuga confirmed that the framework will tighten registration, tax reporting, and supervision of virtual asset firms. “Each institution retains its full statutory mandate and independence, and the framework coordinates their work rather than replacing it,” he said. The order adopts an activity-based model where exchanges, payment providers, and investment platforms face requirements tailored to their services, making it harder for companies to avoid supervision by falling between agency mandates.
The move comes as Nigeria’s Senate advances the Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulation Bill, 2026 (SB 956), which would introduce licensing, transparency, and compliance standards for crypto exchanges. Approved at second reading, the bill now heads to the Senate Committee on Capital Market. Separately, since January 2026, Nigeria has required crypto service providers to link transactions with tax identification numbers under the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, aligning with global standards for cross-border tax information exchange.
The IMF has highlighted that Nigeria accounts for around 60% of all stablecoin inflows into sub-Saharan Africa since 2019, with households and businesses increasingly using dollar-pegged tokens for remittances, supplier payments, and savings during currency pressure. The regulatory push aims to balance consumer protection, innovation, and financial stability while preserving the legal powers of agencies like the Nigerian Revenue Service, which will issue further guidance on tax enforcement.
