Nigeria's Crypto Coordination Order Takes Immediate Effect Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, effective immediate
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, effective immediately on signature. The order is aimed at harmonising the regulation of virtual assets, strengthening oversight and promoting responsible innovation in Nigeria's digital economy.
The executive order was issued pursuant to Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution and is designed to address gaps created by fragmented regulation as virtual assets continue to cut across traditional classifications of currencies, money, commodities and securities. The Presidency was direct about the problem it is trying to solve: the lack of coordinated oversight had created regulatory loopholes that were being exploited by fraudulent and unregistered operators, exposing Nigerians to financial losses, cybersecurity threats, data privacy risks and other forms of criminal activity.
The order establishes a Virtual Asset Council, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as vice-chairs, and comprising the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The Presidency clarified that the order does not establish a new regulator or transfer powers from existing institutions, but rather provides a coordination mechanism to improve regulatory efficiency.Under the new framework, the SEC will continue to regulate virtual assets classified as securities, while the CBN will supervise payment, settlement, custody and other services involving non-security virtual assets.
The executive order also creates a Virtual Asset Office, which will serve as the operational arm of the council with its secretariat domiciled at the CBN, coordinating information sharing, applications and reporting among participating agencies through an integrated supervisory technology platform while allowing each agency to retain control of its statutory responsibilities and data.
Two additional policy tools sit alongside the coordination framework. The CBN is moving ahead with plans to establish a regulatory sandbox for the virtual assets industry, enabling qualified operators to test virtual asset products, blockchain-based services and other innovations under regulatory supervision before they are introduced to the wider market. Separately, the Nigeria Revenue Service is expected to release a tax policy for the virtual assets sector to provide clarity for taxpayers and service providers while ensuring that the sector contributes appropriately to national revenue.
Work is also at an advanced stage on a comprehensive Virtual Assets White Paper that will outline Nigeria's long-term policy direction, with the Virtual Asset Council directed to produce a Harmonised Implementation Framework within 30 days to guide participating agencies in executing the provisions of the executive order.
The timing reflects the scale of what is at stake. Nigeria led the region with more than $92.1 billion in on-chain value between July 2024 and June 2025, according to Chainalysis data, making it Africa's largest cryptocurrency market by volume, ranking second worldwide behind India.By 2025, an estimated 22 million Nigerians, or 10.3 percent of the population, owned or used cryptocurrencies.
Sources:Vanguard: Tinubu signs executive order to harmonise virtual assets regulationPunch: Tinubu signs executive order on virtual assetsChainalysis: Sub-Saharan Africa crypto adoption 2025
