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ABUJA, July 18 — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026, establishing a coordinated regulatory framework for Nigeria’s virtual assets sector aimed at protecting investors, curbing fraud and supporting responsible innovation.

The State House, in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, said the Executive Order takes immediate effect and was signed pursuant to Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

According to the statement, the Order seeks to address regulatory fragmentation as virtual assets increasingly overlap traditional financial sectors, including currencies, commodities, securities and payment systems.

It noted that the absence of coordinated oversight had exposed the country to risks such as money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity threats, data privacy breaches, fraud and revenue losses, while allowing unregistered operators to exploit unsuspecting Nigerians.

To strengthen supervision, the Executive 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-chairmen. Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

The Council is expected to 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 for the sector.

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

The Presidency stressed that the Executive Order does not establish a new regulator or transfer statutory powers from existing institutions. Instead, it provides a framework for coordination while allowing each agency to retain its legal mandate and operational independence.

Under the framework, registration of virtual asset activities will depend on the nature of the asset or service involved. Securities-related activities will be regulated by the SEC, while payment, settlement, custody and related services involving non-security virtual assets will fall under the CBN. The Council will resolve any disputes where regulatory responsibility is unclear.

The statement further disclosed that the CBN will proceed with a regulatory sandbox to enable eligible operators to test virtual asset products, blockchain-based solutions and related services under close regulatory supervision before wider deployment.

According to the Presidency, the sandbox will enable regulators to assess the implications of emerging technologies for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, consumer protection, financial inclusion, market integrity and revenue administration before such products are introduced into the broader market.

The CBN is expected to announce additional details of the sandbox in due course.

In a related development, the Nigeria Revenue Service will unveil a tax policy for the virtual assets sector to clarify the application of existing tax laws, improve voluntary compliance and ensure that the growing industry contributes appropriately to national revenue.

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

Meanwhile, the newly established Virtual Asset Council has been directed to produce a Harmonised Implementation Framework within 30 days to facilitate coordinated and speedy implementation of the Executive Order across all participating agencies.

The Presidency said the initiative is intended to safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system while creating an enabling environment for innovation in the rapidly evolving digital assets ecosystem.