Nigeria unifies crypto regulation to oversee $59 billion market
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed an executive order to unify the fragmented regulation of digital assets, bringing coordinated oversight to a market that saw $59 billion in crypto inflows last year.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed an executive order on Friday to consolidate the oversight of digital assets in Nigeria. The directive creates a virtual asset council led by top financial regulators to direct policy and coordinate the fragmented work of the nation's financial, revenue, and capital markets agencies.
The order stops short of establishing a new regulator, a design meant to avoid bureaucratic overlap. "The order does not create a new regulator or transfer powers between agencies," said presidential special adviser Bayo Onanuga. "Each institution retains its full statutory mandate and independence, and the framework coordinates their work rather than replacing it."
Under the new framework, registration requirements will depend on the specific activity and the type of digital asset involved. Onanuga noted this targeted approach "closes the gaps through which unregistered operators have previously escaped oversight." For crypto businesses operating in the country, this provides regulatory certainty and curtails opportunities for regulatory arbitrage.
The executive order also mandates the Nigerian Revenue Service to update its tax policies for digital assets. This builds on January reforms under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which require crypto service providers to link customer transactions to tax identification numbers or national identification numbers. This linkage establishes a clear fiscal framework for operators.
For the crypto industry, Nigeria represents a critical and massive African market. According to a June report from the International Monetary Fund, the country accounted for roughly 60% of stablecoin inflows in sub-Saharan Africa since 2019. Nigeria recorded about $59 billion in crypto inflows between July 2023 and June 2024.
The volume of these flows highlights why regulators are moving to formalize the market, which has historically served as a workaround for cross-border payments. "The policy challenge is to narrow the gap that made the workaround attractive, while ensuring that new risks remain contained," the IMF said. The fund noted that managing this requires a strategy "open to innovation but anchored in sound macroeconomic policy and effective regulation."
