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ARTICLE · 23 JULY 2026

Presidential Executive Order Boosts Virtual Assets Regulation In Nigeria

Banwo & Ighodalo
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed a Presidential Executive Order establishing Nigeria's first coordinated national framework for virtual assets regulation. The Order creates a Virtual Asset Council comprising the CBN, SEC, NRS, NFIU and ONSA to harmonize oversight, clarify regulatory responsibilities, and eliminate fragmented supervision across digital asset activities. How will this institutional restructuring impact VASPs, market participants, and the broader Nigerian digital assets ecosystem?

NigeriaFinance and Banking
Ayodele Faboya
Ayodele Faboya
Mubarak Dosunmu
Mubarak Dosunmu
Oluwayansola Jeje
Oluwayansola Jeje
Oluwatoba Oguntuase
Oluwatoba Oguntuase

On Friday, July 17, 2026, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the “Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, 2026” (the “Executive Order”), made pursuant to section 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and effective immediately.

According to a State House press release dated same day (the “Press Release”), the Executive Order “responds to a regulatory environment that has become fragmented as virtual assets increasingly blur the traditional boundaries between currencies, money, commodities and securities”.

Notably, the Executive Order comes shortly after The Grey Matter Forum, convened by Banwo & Ighodalo on May 21, 2026, which brought together regulators, policymakers, virtual asset service providers (“VASPs”), fintech operators, financial institutions, investors and professional advisers to examine the future of Nigeria’s digital assets ecosystem following enactment of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025 (“ISA 2025”) and the Nigeria Tax

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