President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, introducing a unified framework to regulate Nigeria’s virtual assets sector, enhance collaboration among key government agencies, and promote the growth of the digital economy.
The Executive Order, signed under Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), takes immediate effect and is aimed at addressing regulatory gaps created by the rapid expansion of virtual assets and emerging financial technologies.
According to a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the initiative seeks to improve coordination among financial, revenue, and capital market regulators while protecting Nigerians from fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity threats, and other financial crimes.
The statement explained that the increasing overlap between digital assets, currencies, commodities, and securities has exposed weaknesses in Nigeria’s existing regulatory structure, allowing fraudulent operators to exploit loopholes and defraud unsuspecting investors.
To address these challenges, the Executive Order establishes a Virtual Asset Council, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice-chairpersons.
Other members of the council include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The council will provide strategic policy direction, coordinate regulatory activities across 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, security, and social priorities.
The Executive Order also creates a Virtual Asset Office, which will serve as the operational arm of the council. The office will be headquartered at the Central Bank of Nigeria and will oversee information sharing, applications, reporting, and inter-agency coordination through an integrated supervisory technology platform.
The presidency clarified that the Executive Order does not establish a new regulatory agency or remove statutory powers from existing institutions. Instead, each regulator will retain its current mandate while operating within a coordinated framework.
Under the new arrangement, the regulation of virtual assets will depend on the nature of the activity involved. The SEC will continue overseeing digital assets classified as securities, while the CBN will regulate payment, settlement, custody, and related services involving non-security virtual assets. Where jurisdiction is unclear, the Virtual Asset Council will determine the appropriate regulator.
As part of the reforms, the Central Bank will launch a regulatory sandbox that will allow approved companies to test virtual asset products and blockchain-based innovations in a controlled environment before they are introduced to the wider market.
The sandbox is expected to help regulators assess the impact of emerging technologies on financial stability, consumer protection, market integrity, monetary policy, financial inclusion, and revenue generation.
In addition, the Nigeria Revenue Service is expected to release a tax policy specifically for the virtual assets industry to provide greater clarity for taxpayers, improve voluntary compliance, and ensure the sector contributes to national revenue.
The Federal Government also disclosed that it is finalising a comprehensive Virtual Assets White Paper, which will outline Nigeria’s long-term strategy, policy direction, and implementation priorities for the digital assets ecosystem.
To ensure swift implementation, President Tinubu has directed the newly established Virtual Asset Council to produce a Harmonised Implementation Framework within 30 days, providing operational guidelines for all participating agencies as Nigeria seeks to strengthen governance of its digital economy.
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