President Bola Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, establishing a new framework to harmonise the regulation of virtual assets and strengthen oversight of Nigeria’s digital economy.

The Presidency said the Executive Order, signed pursuant to Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), takes immediate effect and is aimed at improving coordination among financial, revenue and capital market regulators, while protecting Nigerians from fraud and supporting responsible innovation.

According to a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Order responds to the growing complexity of virtual assets, which increasingly cut across traditional classifications such as currencies, money, commodities and securities.

The statement noted that fragmented regulation and overlapping responsibilities among government agencies had exposed the country to risks including money laundering, terrorism financing, cyber threats, data privacy breaches, fraud and revenue losses, allowing unregistered operators to exploit regulatory gaps.

To address these challenges, the Order establishes a Virtual Asset Council, 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. Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

The Council will provide policy direction, promote collaboration among participating agencies and work with the Attorney-General of the Federation to develop a harmonised legal and institutional framework aligned with Nigeria’s national security, economic and social objectives.

The Executive Order also creates a Virtual Asset Office, which will serve as the Council’s operational arm, with its secretariat domiciled at the CBN. The office will coordinate information sharing, applications and reporting among participating agencies through an integrated supervisory technology platform while allowing each agency to retain ownership and control of its data.

The Presidency clarified that the Order does not establish a new regulator or remove the statutory powers of existing agencies. Instead, regulatory responsibilities will be determined by the nature of the virtual asset or activity involved.

Under the framework, the SEC will register activities involving virtual assets classified as securities, while the CBN will oversee payment, settlement, custody and related services involving non-security virtual assets. The Council will resolve cases where regulatory responsibility is unclear.

The statement added that the coordinated framework closes regulatory loopholes previously exploited by unregistered operators to evade oversight.

As part of the new initiative, the CBN will proceed with a regulatory sandbox that will allow eligible operators to test virtual asset products, services and blockchain-based solutions under regulatory supervision before they are introduced to the wider market.

According to the Presidency, the sandbox is intended to help regulators assess the implications of new products for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection, financial inclusion and revenue administration.

The CBN is expected to announce further details of the sandbox, while the Nigeria Revenue Service will issue a tax policy to clarify how Nigeria’s tax laws apply to virtual assets and improve compliance within the sector.

The Federal Government also disclosed that it is finalising a comprehensive Virtual Assets White Paper to outline Nigeria’s long-term policy direction and implementation priorities for the sector.

President Tinubu has directed the newly established Council to develop a Harmonised Implementation Framework within 30 days to facilitate the effective implementation of the Executive Order.