Bola Tinubu targets crypto loopholes with sweeping Nigeria order

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has signed an executive order targeting regulatory gaps in a crypto market that received about $59 billion in inflows between July 2023 and June 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Tinubu’s office said the order will coordinate digital asset oversight across Nigeria’s financial, tax and capital market agencies while preserving the legal powers of each regulator.

Signed on Friday, the directive creates a common framework for virtual asset regulation and seeks closer cooperation among agencies responsible for supervising Nigeria’s financial system. Presidential special adviser Bayo Onanuga said the framework will also protect users from fraud, support responsible innovation and preserve financial stability.

Rather than forming another watchdog, the order creates a virtual asset council led by senior financial regulators. According to Onanuga, the council will guide policy and help agencies address regulatory gaps that previously allowed some unregistered businesses to operate without oversight.

“Each institution retains its full statutory mandate and independence, and the framework coordinates their work rather than replacing it.”

Registration requirements will depend on the service offered and the type of asset involved, according to the presidential adviser. Onanuga said the activity-based model will give operators more certainty while making it harder for companies to avoid supervision by falling between the mandates of different agencies.

The Nigerian Revenue Service will separately issue more information about how the order affects taxpayers. Although the directive does not set out new tax rates, it places tax enforcement within the coordinated framework for digital asset oversight.

Order coordinates regulators without replacing them

Nigeria currently divides crypto supervision among agencies with separate responsibilities for securities, banking, revenue and financial crime. Tinubu’s order keeps those mandates intact but directs the institutions to work through a shared policy structure, according to the presidency.

Onanuga described the order as a response to fragmented oversight rather than an attempt to transfer authority. Under the framework, regulators will register businesses according to their activities, meaning an exchange, payment provider or investment platform may face different requirements based on the services it provides.

Legislative work on crypto regulation has also continued alongside the executive action. Earlier in June, Nigeria’s Senate advanced the Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulation Bill, 2026, after approving it at second reading.

Listed as SB 956, the bill would establish licensing, transparency and compliance requirements for crypto exchanges and other virtual asset businesses serving Nigerian users. Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin sponsored the proposal, while Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno presented it during the debate.

Senators supporting the bill said formal supervision and consumer protection rules could help curb fraud and improve order in Nigeria’s digital asset market. The proposal has moved to the Senate Committee on Capital Market, which can review its provisions, consider amendments and invite public input.

Second-reading approval has not made the proposal law. Under Nigeria’s legislative process, SB 956 must still complete committee review, pass a third reading and clear the remaining required stages before it can take effect.

Tax authorities have already introduced reporting measures while lawmakers consider the bill. Since the start of 2026, Nigeria has required crypto service providers to connect transactions with tax identification numbers and, in some cases, national identification numbers under the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025.

The reporting system places Nigeria in line with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2026. Under that framework, participating authorities can collect, assess and exchange information about cross-border crypto transactions.

Stablecoin growth increases pressure for clearer rules

Nigeria’s regulatory action follows rapid growth in the use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. In a June report, the IMF estimated that Nigeria received about $59 billion in crypto-asset inflows from July 2023 through June 2024.

The IMF also estimated that Nigeria has accounted for around 60% of all stablecoin inflows into sub-Saharan Africa since 2019. According to the fund, households and small businesses increasingly use U.S. dollar-pegged tokens to receive remittances, pay overseas suppliers and protect savings during periods of pressure on the local currency.

Those uses have turned stablecoins into an important cross-border payment route, but the IMF warned that their growth is testing existing monetary and regulatory systems.

“It is also testing the limits of existing monetary and regulatory frameworks,” the IMF said in its June assessment.

According to the fund, policymakers face the task of reducing the problems that made alternative payment channels attractive while controlling the risks created by their growing use. The IMF called for a clear strategy that allows new financial services but remains tied to sound economic policy and effective supervision.

Tinubu’s executive order addresses the regulatory part of that challenge by coordinating agencies, clarifying registration and bringing tax enforcement into the same structure. Further details from the Nigerian Revenue Service, the work of the new virtual asset council and the Senate’s review of SB 956 will determine how the framework applies to crypto businesses and their customers.