Nigeria Creates Council to Coordinate Virtual Asset Regulation

President Bola Tinubu has signed an executive order creating a centralized framework to coordinate Nigeria’s regulation of virtual assets, as the government seeks to close regulatory gaps that risk exposure to fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes.

The Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, took effect immediately on July 18. It establishes a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Nigeria Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice-chairs. The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and Office of the National Security Adviser will also sit on the council.

A government statement notes:

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: activities like securities will be registered by the SEC, while payment, settlement, custody and related services involving non-security virtual assets will be registered by the CBN, with the Council resolving any case in which responsibility cannot be readily determined.

A Virtual Asset Office based at the CBN will support information sharing, applications and reporting through an integrated supervisory technology platform.

The CBN is also preparing a regulatory sandbox in which eligible businesses can test virtual-asset and blockchain products under supervision. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Revenue Service plans to issue a virtual asset sector-specific tax policy, and the federal government is finalizing a Virtual Assets White Paper outlining the long-term direction of Nigeria’s virtual asset direction. The newly established council has been instructed to produce a harmonized implementation framework within 30 days.

The measures target Nigeria’s rapidly growing virtual assets market, with IMF figures showing that Nigeria has accounted for roughly 60% of sub-Saharan Africa’s stablecoin inflows since 2019.