President Tinubu Signs Executive Order Establishing Council to Harmonize Crypto Regulation

President Bola Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, establishing a new supervisory framework to streamline the regulation of digital assets across the country.

The executive order, which takes immediate effect, aims to eliminate regulatory gaps that have exposed the financial ecosystem to risks such as money laundering, terrorism financing, fraud, and cyber threats. By unifying administrative oversight, the presidency intends to protect citizens from fraudulent operators while fostering responsible digital financial innovation.

The order creates the Virtual Asset Council to coordinate policies among existing agencies. The council is chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice-chairs. Additional members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

The presidency clarified that the order does not introduce a new regulatory body or dilute the independent statutory powers of existing institutions. Instead, it defines jurisdictional boundaries to ensure comprehensive coverage:

Securities-backed assets: The SEC will retain full oversight and registration responsibilities for activities categorized as securities.

Non-security virtual assets: The CBN will handle registration and oversight for payment, settlement, custody, and related digital asset services.

A specialized operational unit, the Virtual Asset Office, will be housed within the CBN secretariat to manage day-to-day data sharing and joint oversight through integrated supervisory technology.

As part of the roll-out, the CBN will introduce a regulatory sandbox to let eligible firms test blockchain and virtual asset products under controlled conditions. This initiative allows authorities to evaluate risks regarding monetary sovereignty and financial inclusion before technologies enter the mainstream market. Concurrently, the NRS is scheduled to issue a specialized tax policy for the virtual assets sector to provide structural clarity and improve tax compliance.

The Virtual Asset Council has been given a 30-day deadline to deliver a Harmonized Implementation Framework to accelerate the deployment of the new directives.