BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
The Federal Government has finalised plans to release a comprehensive Virtual Assets White Paper, expected to capture Nigeria’s longer-term policy direction and implementation priorities that will serve as a roadmap for stakeholders across the financial sector.
To this end, the Virtual Asset Council, VAC, has been directed to develop a Harmonised Implementation Framework within 30 days to guide participating agencies in the speedy implementation of the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who stated this at the signing of the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, in Abuja, revealed that the Order is intended to harmonise the regulation of virtual assets, strengthen cooperation among the nation's financial, revenue and capital markets agencies, protect citizens from fraud, and safeguard the integrity of the financial system while enabling responsible innovation.
Tinubu signed the Order pursuant to Section 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, just as he directed that the Executive Order takes effect immediately.
With relevant agencies operating in silos, overlapping in some areas and leaving gaps in others, the country has been exposed to risks, including money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity and data privacy threats, fraud, and revenue losses.
Regrettably, unregistered and fraudulent operators have exploited the gaps to prey on unsuspecting Nigerians, costing families their savings.
The Order is designed to close these gaps through supervisory coordination, without introducing new layers of regulation or displacing the mandates of existing agencies.
To achieve this, the Order establishes a Virtual Asset Council, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, with the Nigeria Revenue Service, NRS, and Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, as vice-chairs, and comprising the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, and Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA.
The Council will provide policy direction, promote synergy among the participating agencies, and work with the Attorney-General of the Federation to develop a harmonised legal and institutional framework that aligns the sector with Nigeria's national security, economic and social objectives.
The Order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office, the Council's operational body, with its secretariat domiciled at the CBN. The Office will be responsible for the day-to-day coordination of information sharing, applications, and reporting among the agencies, supported by an integrated supervisory technology platform that provides shared visibility while preserving each agency's ownership and control of its data.
Similarly, the Order does not create a new regulator or transfer powers between agencies. Each institution retains its full statutory mandate and independence, and the framework coordinates their work rather than replacing it.
Registration will follow the nature of the activity and the asset involved but activities like securities will be registered by the SEC, while payment, settlement, custody and related services involving non-security virtual assets will be registered by the CBN.
To fast-track coordination, the CBN is proceeding with a regulatory sandbox for virtual assets. The sandbox will provide a controlled environment in which eligible operators can test and operate virtual asset products, services, and blockchain-based solutions under close supervision, enabling the participating agencies to assess the implications for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection, financial inclusion, and revenue administration before products reach the wider market.
Tinubu hinted that the sandbox for virtual assets will ensure that innovations that will reach Nigerians have been properly examined and supervised, adding that the CBN will announce further details of the sandbox.
Also, the Nigerian Revenue Service will release a tax policy for the virtual assets sector.
The policy operationalised Nigeria's tax laws as they apply to virtual assets, providing greater certainty for taxpayers and service providers, strengthening voluntary compliance, and ensuring that the sector contributes fairly to national revenue as it grows.
While the NRS will provide further details, the policy complements the coordination framework by aligning revenue administration with the work of the other participating authorities.
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