News, data and analysis on tokenized assets, market design and digital economic systems.
The Investments and Securities Act 2025 treats virtual and digital assets as securities and criminalises unlicensed operation, but no firm holds a final licence (nine have approvals-in-principle) and digital-asset gains became taxable in 2026.
The Investments and Securities Act 2025 recognises virtual and digital assets as securities, brings virtual asset service providers, digital asset operators and exchanges under SEC supervision, and criminalises unlicensed operation, replacing the 2007 Act. Licensing has proceeded through the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme rather than full licences: Busha and Quidax received approvals-in-principle in 2024, and an SEC circular dated July 2, 2026 cleared seven further firms (Bitbarter Technologies, Luno Fintech Nigeria, GetEquity, Koinkoin Global Network, Wrapped CBDC, Trovotech and Blockvault Custodian), bringing the reported total to nine, with the SEC stating explicitly that an approval-in-principle is not a final licence. The Nigeria Tax Act and Nigeria Tax Administration Act, signed on June 26, 2025 and effective in 2026, subject digital-asset gains to personal income tax at rates up to 25%, apply 30% companies income tax to virtual asset service providers, and impose transaction reporting duties with penalties of NGN 10m plus NGN 1m for each month of continued default.
| Framework | Status | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investments and Securities Act 2025 | In force | 29 March 2025 | Classifies virtual and digital assets as securities, establishes SEC oversight of VASPs, digital asset operators, exchanges and custodians, and criminalises unregistered operation. |
| SEC Rules on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets | In force | 11 May 2022 | Registration requirements for digital asset offering platforms, exchanges and custodians, including capital and disclosure obligations. |
| SEC Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP) | In force | 21 June 2024 | Interim onboarding route for virtual asset service providers pending full registration; approvals-in-principle are expressly not final licences. |
| SEC circular admitting seven additional firms under ARIP | In force | 2 July 2026 | Bitbarter Technologies, Luno Fintech Nigeria, GetEquity, Koinkoin Global Network, Wrapped CBDC, Trovotech and Blockvault Custodian added, following Busha and Quidax in 2024. |
| CBN guidelines on operations of bank accounts for virtual asset service providers | In force | 22 December 2023 | Permits banks to open designated accounts for SEC-licensed VASPs, reversing the February 2021 prohibition on servicing crypto businesses. |
| Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 | In force | 1 January 2026 | Signed June 26, 2025 and effective in 2026: personal income tax of up to 25% on digital-asset gains, 30% companies income tax on VASPs, and transaction reporting with penalties of NGN 10m plus NGN 1m per month of continued default. |
| Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and SCUML registration for VASPs | In force | 12 May 2022 | Designates VASPs as reporting entities subject to AML/CFT obligations and travel rule expectations. |
Every development we have evidenced under Nigeria, newest first.
Cohort 2 of the bank's regulatory sandbox opened on 11 August 2026 with a Virtual Asset Service Provider track covering fiat-backed stablecoin payments, stablecoin issuance models, virtual asset payments, custody, wallets, token-based products and fiat on and off-ramps. Applications run from 12 to 31 August. Admission is not a licence and substitutes for no other agency's approval.
NASD OTC Securities Exchange introduced the NASD Digital Securities Platform, built on Blockstation infrastructure with TK Tech Africa to carry tokenized securities from issuance through trading, clearing and settlement, with a first public offering slated for early September 2026. Punch and Vanguard reported it live on 29 and 30 July; the exchange's own page for it says coming soon.
Quidax said on 28 July 2026 that its stablecoin payment infrastructure now reaches more than 21 countries and 14 currencies, with corridors across nine African markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Côte d'Ivoire alongside destinations such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, China and the United Arab Emirates. USDT, XAUT and USAT are among the supported stablecoins. The company holds an approval-in-principle as a digital assets exchange from Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission rather than a full registration.
President Bola Tinubu signed the Investments and Securities Act 2025, which replaces the 2007 Act and widens the statutory definition of securities to include virtual and digital assets. The Act places virtual asset service providers, digital asset operators and digital asset exchanges under the supervision of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which announced the signing on 29 March 2025.
The Central Bank of Nigeria issued guidelines on banks' operation of accounts for virtual asset service providers, superseding the circulars of 12 January 2017 and 5 February 2021 that had barred regulated institutions from serving the sector. Banks were permitted to open designated and settlement accounts for VASPs licensed by the Nigerian securities regulator, but remained prohibited from holding or trading virtual currencies on their own account.
The Central Bank of Nigeria launched the eNaira, the second retail central bank digital currency in operation anywhere, using permissioned distributed ledger technology and a two-tier distribution model in which the central bank runs the system and financial institutions hold treasury wallets. The eNaira is a liability of the central bank, pays no interest so as to limit substitution away from bank deposits, and applies tiered identity requirements with transaction and balance limits rather than allowing anonymity.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria issued a statement setting out that "virtual crypto assets are securities, unless proven otherwise", placing the burden on issuers to file an initial assessment showing an asset is not a security before registration is required. The statement brought dealers, portfolio managers, investment advisers and custodians of digital assets within the registration perimeter, and gave existing offerings three months from implementation to comply.
Cohort 2 of the Central Bank of Nigeria's regulatory sandbox takes applications from 12 August for supervised live testing of stablecoin issuance, virtual asset payments, custody and on-ramps.
The OTC exchange's NDSP, built on Blockstation rails, is to issue, trade, clear and settle tokenized securities, with a first public offering slated for early September.
The exchange holding Nigeria's first provisional digital asset approval says businesses can now settle in 14 currencies across nine African markets and beyond, a bet that regulated rails can undercut some of the world's costliest payment corridors.
The IMF Executive Board concluded its 2026 Article IV consultation with Nigeria on 9 June 2026 and identified stablecoin oversight as a priority.
Mastercard and the African digital-asset platform Yellow Card announced a partnership on 7 May 2026 to build stablecoin-based payment and settlement rails across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
An IMF working paper published on 27 March 2026 examined cross-border stablecoin flows and their effects on emerging-market foreign exchange rates.
What issued, what settled, what the supervisors changed, with the numbers behind it and a note on what the numbers do not show. One email, Thursday mornings.
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