Nigeria Moves to Harmonize Digital Asset Regulation

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria has moved to address what his office called the fragmentation of digital asset regulation.

The Nigerian president’s special adviser Bayo Onanuga said that an executive order signed on Friday would “harmonize the regulation of virtual assets, strengthen cooperation among the nation’s financial, revenue and capital markets agencies, protect citizens from fraud, and safeguard the integrity of the financial system while enabling responsible innovation.”

It also established a virtual asset council headed by some of the nation’s top financial regulators to direct related policies, and Nigeria’s tax authority will update its policies on digital assets.

“[T]he order does not create a new regulator or transfer powers between agencies,” said Onanuga. “Each institution retains its full statutory mandate and independence, and the framework coordinates their work rather than replacing it. To provide certainty for operators and protection for the public, registration will follow the nature of the activity and the asset involved [...] This closes the gaps through which unregistered operators have previously escaped oversight.“

Nigeria has seen some of the strongest growth in digital asset adoption in Africa, in both cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. According to a June report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country accounted for about 60% of stablecoin inflows within sub-Saharan Africa since 2019 and had about $59 billion in crypto inflows between July 2023 and June 2024.

“The policy challenge is to narrow the gap that made the workaround [in cross-border payments] attractive, while ensuring that new risks remain contained,” said the IMF on Nigeria’s stablecoin adoption. “That requires a clear strategy: open to innovation but anchored in sound macroeconomic policy and effective regulation.”

Nigerian tax authority revamped digital assets approach

While the executive order said that the country’s tax authority, the Nigerian Revenue Service, would provide additional details on the effects on taxpayers, the agency had already announced policy reforms.

In January, authorities said that under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, crypto service providers were required to link transactions to tax identification numbers and, in some cases, national identification numbers.