President Bola Tinubu has signed an Executive Order establishing a coordinated regulatory framework for Nigeria’s virtual assets sector to tighten oversight of the country’s fast-growing cryptocurrency and digital assets market while promoting responsible innovation.
The Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, which takes immediate effect, creates a Virtual Asset Council to harmonise regulation across financial, capital market, tax and national security agencies without creating a new regulator.
According to a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Order seeks to address regulatory fragmentation as virtual assets increasingly blur the traditional boundaries between currencies, money, commodities and securities.
The Presidency said the lack of coordinated oversight had exposed Nigeria to money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity threats, data privacy breaches, fraud and revenue losses, while enabling unregistered operators to exploit unsuspecting investors.
Under the new framework, the Central Bank of Nigeria will chair the Virtual Asset Council, while the Nigeria Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission will serve as vice chairpersons.
Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The Council will provide policy direction, strengthen collaboration among participating agencies and work with the Attorney General of the Federation to develop a harmonised legal and institutional framework that aligns the virtual assets sector with Nigeria’s economic, financial and national security objectives.
The Executive Order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office, with its secretariat domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria, to coordinate information sharing, applications and reporting among the participating agencies through an integrated supervisory technology platform.
The Presidency stressed that the Order does not transfer regulatory powers or create additional layers of regulation.
Instead, each agency will retain its statutory mandate while operating under a coordinated supervisory framework.
Under the arrangement, virtual assets classified as securities will be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, while payment, settlement, custody and related services involving non-security virtual assets will fall under the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Council will determine jurisdiction where regulatory responsibilities overlap.
As part of the reforms, the Central Bank will introduce a regulatory sandbox that will allow eligible firms to test virtual asset products, services and blockchain-based solutions under close supervision before they are introduced into the wider market.
The government said the sandbox would enable regulators to assess the impact of emerging technologies on monetary sovereignty, financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection, financial inclusion and revenue generation.
The Nigeria Revenue Service is also expected to release a tax policy for the virtual assets sector to clarify the application of tax laws, improve compliance and ensure the industry contributes to government revenue as it expands.
The Federal Government is finalising a comprehensive Virtual Assets White Paper to outline Nigeria’s long-term policy direction and implementation priorities for the sector.
President Tinubu directed the newly established Virtual Asset Council to develop a Harmonised Implementation Framework within 30 days to facilitate the effective implementation of the Executive Order.
