Nigeria's Central Bank (@cenbank) has opened applications for a dedicated virtual asset track within its Cohort 2 Regulatory Sandbox Programme, giving crypto firms their first formal route to
Nigeria's Central Bank (@cenbank) has opened applications for a dedicated virtual asset track within its Cohort 2 Regulatory Sandbox Programme, giving crypto firms their first formal route to test products under direct regulatory supervision in the country.
Applications open on August 12, 2026, and close on August 31, 2026.The CBN is inviting eligible innovators, financial institutions, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), fintechs and technology companies to participate. The virtual asset track covers stablecoins, payments, settlement, custody and wallets, all subject to supervised live testing within agreed parameters. The CBN has been clear that a sandbox place is not a licence to operate beyond those boundaries.
The sandbox provides a controlled environment in which operators can test virtual asset products and services under the oversight of regulators, which the government says "will help ensure that innovations that reach Nigerians have been properly examined and supervised."
The sandbox launch follows a broader shift in how Nigeria approaches digital assets. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, on July 17, taking effect immediately. Rather than creating a fresh regulator, the order forces the CBN, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the newly formed Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) to work from the same playbook.
The Executive Order creates a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the CBN to harmonise oversight of cryptocurrencies, tokenised assets, stablecoins, and other digital assets without creating a new regulator.The order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office within the CBN to serve as the council's operational secretariat, facilitating information sharing, licensing applications, and regulatory reporting among participating agencies.
The shift marks a significant turn for a central bank that in February 2021 banned financial institutions from processing crypto transactions and ordered them to close accounts linked to crypto trading.With the new executive order, the Nigerian government has recognised the reality of crypto uptake in the country and is seeking to regulate rather than stifle the virtual assets space.
Nigeria ranks among the world's largest digital asset markets by volume, with annual cryptocurrency flows estimated at around $59 billion USD over a recent period. The CBN's sandbox programme is a direct response to that scale, aiming to build a supervised framework before full market access is granted.
Sources:Punch: CBN deepens fintech regulation with second sandbox cohortAfrican Business: Tinubu signs executive order as Nigeria opens up to cryptocurrencyThe Sun Nigeria: CBN opens applications for second regulatory sandbox cohort
