President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, introducing a new framework aimed at streamlining the regulation of Nigeria's fast-growing virtual assets sector and strengthening oversight across government institutions.
The Executive Order, which takes immediate effect, establishes a Virtual Asset Council to coordinate the activities of major financial, regulatory, security and revenue agencies. The initiative is designed to protect Nigerians from fraud, curb money laundering and terrorism financing, improve tax compliance, and encourage responsible innovation in the country's digital economy.
Announcing the development in a statement issued on Friday, the President's Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the Order was signed pursuant to Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution to address increasing regulatory overlaps as virtual assets continue to span "currencies, securities, commodities and payment systems". According to the Presidency, the lack of a coordinated regulatory framework had created loopholes that allowed fraudulent and unregistered operators to exploit the system, exposing Nigerians to financial losses, cybersecurity risks, data privacy breaches and other criminal activities.
Under the new arrangement, the Virtual Asset Council will be chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), while the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will serve as vice-chairmen. Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). The Council will provide policy direction, strengthen collaboration among participating agencies and work with the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to develop "a harmonised legal and institutional framework for the sector in line with Nigeria's economic, security and social objectives."
The Executive Order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office, which will serve as the operational arm of the Council. The office, to be headquartered at the Central Bank, will coordinate information sharing, regulatory applications and reporting through an integrated supervisory technology platform, while allowing participating agencies to retain ownership and control of their respective data.
The Presidency emphasised that the Order does not create a new regulator or diminish the legal authority of existing agencies. Instead, oversight will continue to depend on the nature of the virtual asset or activity involved. Assets classified as securities will remain under the SEC's jurisdiction, while the CBN will regulate payment, settlement, custody and other non-security virtual asset services. The Council will resolve cases where regulatory responsibility is unclear.
According to the Federal Government, the framework is intended to close regulatory gaps that previously enabled unregistered operators to avoid effective supervision. As part of the reforms, the Central Bank will introduce a regulatory sandbox that will allow eligible operators to test virtual asset products, blockchain technologies and related services under regulatory supervision before they are deployed commercially.
The statement explained that the sandbox would enable regulators to assess the impact of emerging technologies on "monetary sovereignty, financial stability, consumer protection, market integrity, financial inclusion and revenue administration." The CBN is expected to release detailed operational guidelines for the initiative.
The Nigeria Revenue Service will also introduce a dedicated tax policy for the virtual assets industry to clarify the application of existing tax laws to digital assets, improve voluntary compliance and ensure the rapidly expanding sector contributes appropriately to government revenue.
In addition, the Federal Government disclosed that work is at an advanced stage on a comprehensive Virtual Assets White Paper, which will define Nigeria's long-term policy direction, implementation priorities and roadmap for stakeholders in the industry.
President Tinubu has directed the newly inaugurated council to produce a harmonised implementation framework within 30 days to facilitate coordinated action among participating agencies and ensure the prompt execution of the Executive Order.
