Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has signed a new directive creating a coordinated regulatory framework aimed at tackling fraud, money laundering and cybersecurity threats while supporting responsible innovation across the country’s digital asset ecosystem. Can a single executive order sanitise Nigeria’s rapidly evolving virtual asset market? Chuta Chimezie, Founder and coordinator at Blockchain Nigeria User Group joins CNBC Africa for more on these.
Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:16:59 GMT
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Key Points:
- Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu signed a directive to coordinate oversight of virtual assets across key agencies, targeting fraud, money laundering and cybersecurity risks.
- Industry participants said the framework could improve clarity between the SEC, the Central Bank of Nigeria and tax authorities, especially where digital assets intersect with both capital markets and the banking system.
- A 30-day implementation timeline highlighted in the discussion suggests regulators may move quickly to operationalize the new structure.
- High licensing and capital thresholds remain a concern for market participants who say local startups could struggle to enter the sector under the current cost structure.
- Stakeholders expect the framework may eventually evolve into a more tiered regime if Nigeria wants to support broader participation and domestic innovation.
Topics
Nigeria virtual assetsBola TinubuCentral Bank of NigeriaSEC Nigeriacryptocurrency regulationBlockchain Nigeria User Groupdigital assets Africafintech regulationmoney launderingcybersecurity
- Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has signed a directive creating a coordinated regulatory framework for virtual assets, aimed at curbing fraud, money laundering and cybersecurity threats while supporting innovation.
- The order is expected to sharpen coordination between the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Securities and Exchange Commission and tax authorities, with a 30-day implementation timeline highlighted by industry participants.
- Industry stakeholders welcomed the policy signal but warned that high licensing thresholds could limit participation by local startups and slow broader innovation.
Nigeria is moving to tighten oversight of its fast-evolving virtual asset market after President Bola Tinubu signed a new directive aimed at coordinating regulators, as authorities seek to close compliance gaps tied to fraud, money laundering and cybersecurity risks while still allowing responsible innovation.
The directive brings Nigeria’s key financial and market authorities into closer alignment founder and coordinator of the Blockchain Nigeria User Group, who said the move answers a long-running push by policymakers for greater clarity over digital asset activity
“I think it’s a welcome development,” Chime said in the interview, adding that regulators have for years sought “clarity,” “monitoring,” and “control” over the sector, including a better understanding of who the market participants are.
Chime said the latest move reflects what he described as institutional preparation for the industry, particularly by placing the SEC, the Central Bank of Nigeria and tax authorities under a more harmonized policy umbrella.
That coordination matters in Nigeria, where digital asset activity has expanded rapidly even as oversight has often appeared fragmented across agencies with different mandates.
According to Chime, the framework appears to draw a practical line between capital markets supervision and central bank oversight. Where a digital asset product relates to the capital market, he said, the SEC Nigeria would retain primary supervisory and regulatory authority. Where the product interacts with the naira or the banking system, including in areas such as stablecoins or products requiring financial institution access, the CBN would likely play the leading oversight role.
Still, he cautioned that the distinction may prove difficult to apply in practice.
“There is really a very thin line between the capital market and direct access to the financial services,” Chime said, noting that businesses operating in the investment space ultimately still depend on the banking system to function.
That overlap has been one of the central challenges in regulating digital assets globally, particularly in emerging markets where crypto-related products often cut across payments, investment, savings and remittances.
In Nigeria’s case, the new order could help reduce regulatory arbitrage if agencies move quickly to define responsibilities, licensing standards and enforcement channels. Chime pointed to what he described as a 30-day implementation challenge or timeline for the relevant agencies, a sign that authorities may be seeking swift operational follow-through rather than a purely declarative policy statement.
Even so, industry participants say the success of the directive will depend not only on coordination, but also on how rules are designed and priced.
Chime said one area that needs closer attention is the structure of regulatory regimes and licensing fees. He argued that while regulators have a legitimate interest in protecting the financial system and ensuring only serious operators enter the market, excessively high capital and licensing requirements risk shutting out local innovators.
He pointed to thresholds he said were around 1 billion naira ($652,000) for some asset classes and 2 billion naira ($1.3 million) for firms seeking exposure to real-world asset activity. CNBC Africa could not independently verify those thresholds from the directive itself based on the interview discussion.
“How will a local startup cope with a licensing regime that factors them away from participation,” Chime said.
The concern reflects a broader tension facing regulators across Africa’s digital finance sector. Policymakers want stronger consumer protection, anti-money laundering controls and market integrity, but they also face pressure not to impose barriers that favor only the largest incumbents or foreign-backed players.
Chime said he believes the current approach may be phased, with regulators initially allowing better-capitalized players to enter first before eventually broadening participation to mid-level and smaller firms.
“So this first phase, I want to believe they want to allow the big players to flex their muscles,” he said, adding that regulators typically want participants that can demonstrate both reof the capital market
He said that approach may not be unusual at the start of a new regulatory cycle, but added that a tiered structure would likely be needed over time if Nigeria wants domestic innovation to scale.
“What I believe is that over time it will be tiered down eventually because that’s the only way you can allow local innovation to develop,” Chime said.
The comments suggest that while the new directive is being viewed positively by parts of the industry, it is unlikely by itself to settle the debate over how Nigeria should regulate virtual assets. Much will hinge on the secondary rules, agency coordination mechanisms and licensing frameworks that emerge in the coming weeks.
The directive also lands as Nigeria, like several other African markets, tries to balance financial innovation with financial stability concerns. Digital assets have drawn strong interest from retail users, startups and cross-border payment firms, but they have also raised concerns among regulators over illicit finance, consumer losses and the potential for spillovers into the broader financial system.
For now, the immediate test will be implementation. If the SEC, the CBN and other agencies can define clear lines of responsibility and create workable entry rules, the directive could mark a more mature phase for Nigeria’s digital asset market. If not, questions around overlapping mandates, compliance costs and barriers to entry are likely to persist.
“The government is taking the right action,” Chime said, while warning that the details of execution will determine whether the framework closes loopholes without choking off legitimate fintech growth.
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