Nigeria's President Signs Executive Order to Regulate the Virtual Asset Industry

Odaily Planet Daily News: Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has signed an executive order on virtual assets aimed at regulating the industry and cracking down on unregistered operators. The measure takes effect immediately and will establish a new oversight framework to coordinate the currently fragmented regulatory environment.



A newly formed Virtual Assets Committee will serve as the primary policy-making and coordination body, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the Nigerian Tax Authority and the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (NSEC) serving as vice chairs.



A Virtual Assets Office will be established within the CBN to handle daily inter-agency operations and information sharing. Securities-related financial activities will be managed by the NSEC, while payment, settlement, and custody services for non-securities virtual assets will fall under the purview of the CBN.



The CBN plans to launch a regulatory sandbox, allowing qualified operators to test virtual asset products and blockchain solutions in a controlled environment. The Virtual Assets Committee is required to develop an implementation framework for the executive order within 30 days.