On 17th July 2026, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026 (the “Executive Order”), marking a significant development in Nigeria's evolving regulatory framework for virtual assets.
The Executive Order introduces a coordinated approach to the regulation of virtual assets and digital asset activities in Nigeria. Rather than creating a new standalone regulator, it seeks to strengthen cooperation amongst existing regulatory authorities while preserving their respective statutory mandates. This development is particularly relevant to virtual asset service providers, digital asset exchanges, custodians, token issuers, payment service providers, investors and other participants in Nigeria's digital asset ecosystem.
Background
Nigeria's virtual assets regulatory landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years. Notable developments include:
- the issuance of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (“SEC”) Rules on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets;
- the Central Bank of Nigeria's (“CBN”) Guidelines on Operations of Bank Accounts for Virtual Asset Service Providers;
- the introduction of the SEC's Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (“ARIP”); and
- the enactment of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025 (ISA 2025), which formally recognises digital and virtual assets as securities.
While these developments established the legal and regulatory foundations for the supervision of virtual asset activities, uncertainty remained regarding the respective roles of the various regulators, particularly where virtual asset activities crisscross capital markets regulation, banking, payment systems, taxation, and other related areas. The Executive Order seeks to address this by introducing a formal framework for regulatory coordination whilst preserving the statutory mandates of the existing regulators.
The Executive Order seeks to address this by introducing a formal framework for regulatory coordination whilst preserving the statutory mandates of the existing regulators.
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