Nigeria: crypto and stablecoin regulation (as of 2 November 2026)

As of 2026-11-02

In Nigeria, the Investments and Securities Act, 2025 (Act No. 2 of 2025, which repeals the Investments and Securities Act No. 29 of 2007) defines "securities" to include virtual and digital assets, and gives the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the task of registering and regulating virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and digital asset operators. The Act was published in the Official Gazette No. 19, Vol. 112, of 2 May 2025. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued guidelines on bank accounts for VASPs on 22 December 2023; under them banks and other financial institutions are still prohibited from holding, trading and/or transacting in virtual currencies on their own account. An SEC circular published on 16 January 2026 revises minimum capital for regulated capital market entities, including VASP categories, with compliance due on or before 30 June 2027. The SEC has also issued an exposure draft of Proposed Rules on Digital and Virtual Assets Operations, Custody and Markets, which contains a stablecoin part. These are proposed rules, not rules in force, and the PDF is undated.

This page states what the government sources say. It is not legal advice.

Status as of 2 November 2026

Key rules

• Digital assets are securities (ISA 2025). The Act's definition of "securities" includes "(c) virtual and digital assets;". (SEC Nigeria)
• SEC as regulator (ISA 2025 s.3(3)). The SEC shall register and regulate virtual and digital asset exchanges, and, among others, "virtual asset service providers, digital asset operators". (SEC Nigeria)
• Banks on own account (CBN guidelines). "However, banks and other financial institutions are still prohibited from holding, trading and/or transacting in virtual currencies on their own account." (CBN)
• No cash withdrawals (CBN guidelines). For a designated VASP account: "No cash withdrawal shall be allowed from the account." (CBN)
• Naira only (CBN guidelines). "Transactions on the VASP/DA platform shall only be in Naira." (CBN)
• Minimum capital (SEC circular, 16 January 2026). The SEC issued the circular "pursuant to its statutory mandate under the Investments and Securities Act, 2025, to regulate and develop the Nigerian capital market"; the revision applies to all categories of regulated capital market entities, including VASP categories. (SEC Nigeria)
• Scope of the stablecoin part (proposed SEC rules). "This part shall apply to the issuance, offering, admission, trading, custody, reserve management, redemption, recognition or use of stablecoins in connection with capital market activities". (SEC Nigeria)
• Four tiers (proposed SEC rules). Under the proposal, stablecoins may be categorised as "Tier 1: Naira-Backed Stablecoins; (ii) Tier 2: Foreign Currency-Backed Stablecoins; (iii) Tier 3: Commodity-Backed Stablecoins", with crypto-backed stablecoins as the fourth tier. (SEC Nigeria)
• Algorithmic stablecoins (proposed SEC rules). The proposal would prohibit "algorithmic or seigniorage-based stablecoins", among others, "unless otherwise approved by the Commission under exceptional circumstances and subject to such safeguards as the Commission may prescribe". (SEC Nigeria)
• Reserves for Naira-backed stablecoins (proposed SEC rules). "Naira-backed stablecoins shall be backed at all times by not less than one hundred per cent (100%) of outstanding stablecoin liabilities, held in cash or cash equivalent instruments approved by the CBN, the Commission or any other relevant authority". (SEC Nigeria)
• Reserves for foreign currency-backed stablecoins (proposed SEC rules). "foreign currency-backed stablecoins shall be backed at all times by not less than one hundred and twenty per cent (120%) of outstanding stablecoin liabilities, held in the same reference currency or in cash equivalent instruments denominated in that currency". (SEC Nigeria)
• Thresholds in a Schedule (proposed SEC rules). The proposal says the reserve, liquidity, collateral, redemption, concentration and reporting thresholds for stablecoins "shall be as set out in the applicable Schedule on asset-referenced tokens, stablecoins and related capital market activities, and shall be subject to periodic review by the Commission." (SEC Nigeria)
• Redemption (proposed SEC rules). "An issuer shall maintain clear, fair and enforceable redemption arrangements and shall redeem stablecoins within such timeframe as may be prescribed by the Commission." (SEC Nigeria)
• Foreign-issued stablecoins (proposed SEC rules). "A foreign-issued stablecoin shall not be listed, admitted for trading, custodied, settled, promoted or otherwise used by a DAX or other regulated platform in Nigeria unless recognised or authorised by the Commission." (SEC Nigeria)
• Representations (proposed SEC rules). "A regulated entity shall not represent or imply that a stablecoin used for capital market activity is risk-free, guaranteed by the Commission, the Federal Government, legal tender, insured, deposit-like or equivalent to fiat currency unless such representation is expressly permitted by law and approved by the relevant authority." (SEC Nigeria)

Timeline

Not covered here

All stablecoin rules on this page are proposals in an SEC exposure draft and are not in force. The draft's PDF has no date, and the SEC listing page that showed its publication date now returns 404, so this page gives the draft no date. The sources this page uses do not say whether or when the proposed rules, including the stablecoin part, will be adopted; the reserve, redemption and other thresholds would be set in a Schedule, and the redemption timeframe would be prescribed by the Commission. No CBN rule on stablecoins in payments was found; the proposed SEC rules say that SEC recognition is not CBN approval for payment activities. The text of the SEC Rules on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets (11 May 2022) was not read; only the SEC rules page entry was. The capital figures in the minimum capital circular are not listed here. The CBN circular is a scanned PDF and its reference number is garbled in the scan. Assent dates for the Investments and Securities Act, 2025 given in the press differ from the date line printed in the Act and are not used.

Sources

• https://sec.gov.ng/documents/1319/Investments_and_Securities_Act_2025_x9rSXtI.pdf
• https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2024/FPRD/GUIDELINES%20ON%20OPERATIONS%20OF%20BANK%20ACCOUNTS%20FOR%20VIRTUAL%20Asset%20Providers.pdf
• https://sec.gov.ng/our-mandate/regulation/rules-and-regulations/
• https://home.sec.gov.ng/for-investors/keep-track-of-circulars/revised-minimum-capital-mc-for-regulated-capital-market-entities/
• https://sec.gov.ng/documents/1503/Proposed_Rules_on_Digital_and_Virtual_Asset_Operations_Custody_and_Markets.pdf
• https://home.sec.gov.ng/fintech-and-innovation-hub-finport/registered-fintech-operators/

Updated: 2026-11-02 · Markdown version