Tinubu Signs Executive Order Unifying Nigeria's Virtual Assets Regulation
President Tinubu has signed an executive order creating a CBN-led council to harmonise regulation of virtual assets across Nigeria, establishing a unified regulatory framework for the country's crypto and Web3 sector. The order represents the most significant crypto policy action in Africa's largest economy to date.
Nigeria Crypto: the CBN chair is a signal, not just a detail
Nigeria has had multiple agencies regulating crypto at once — the SEC licensing exchanges, the CBN watching payments, the tax authority circling revenue, law enforcement chasing fraud — each moving independently, sometimes in opposite directions.
This order doesn't pick a winner. It puts all of them in a room with the CBN at the head of the table.
That seating arrangement matters. The CBN spent years as the most cautious voice in the room; its 2021 directive effectively cut crypto businesses off from the banking system. Making it chair of a council that also includes the SEC — which has been actively licensing digital asset firms — means the most conservative institution now sets the agenda.
Is that coordination, or a quiet veto?
4 sources
- President Tinubu signs executive order to unify Nigeria’s virtual assets regulation · techpoint.africa · T1
- Tinubu signs Virtual Assets Executive Order, creates CBN-led council to harmonise crypto regulation · nairametrics.com · T2
- BREAKING! Tinubu Signs Executive Order on Virtual Assets · techeconomy.ng · T2
- President Tinubu signs order to coordinate virtual assets regulation · thecondia.com · T2