Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has formally put into effect the 2026 Virtual Asset Coordination Executive Order – a sweeping directive that consolidates oversight of digital assets under a single committee and forces cooperation among previously siloed agencies. The order took effect immediately upon signing on July 17.
The move targets a fragmented system that had, according to officials, allowed terrorism financing, fraud and tax revenue leakage to slip through regulatory cracks. It also blocks unregistered operators from entering the market. A new virtual asset committee, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria, will now draft a unified regulatory framework. The Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission sit as vice chairs, with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the Office of the National Security Adviser also on the body.
Under the new structure, the SEC will oversee virtual assets that qualify as securities – judged by the asset’s nature. The central bank will supervise payment, settlement and custody services for non-security tokens. A virtual asset office inside the CBN will handle interagency information sharing and coordinate licensing. The committee itself will directly resolve cases where jurisdiction is unclear.
The government is also revamping industry support and tax measures. The central bank plans to launch a virtual asset regulatory sandbox soon, letting qualified operators test blockchain services in a controlled environment. The tax authority is preparing a crypto-specific tax framework meant to encourage voluntary compliance and secure revenue. Separately, the government has started drafting a virtual asset white paper outlining the sector’s medium- to long-term policy direction.
The new virtual asset committee has 30 days to draw up a detailed integrated implementation framework and distribute it to relevant agencies, speeding execution of the order. For now, market participants and exchanges operating in Nigeria should watch for that framework – it will define exactly how licensing, supervision and tax collection will work on the ground.
Nigeria unifies crypto rules under new order to fight fraud and block unregistered operators
President Bola Tinubu signed an order creating a single committee to oversee all digital assets and improve agency cooperation. This affects Nigeria’s crypto market by tightening rules to prevent fraud, terrorism financing, and tax losses.