Svmuu News: Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed an executive order to coordinate the regulation of virtual assets, strengthen cooperation among the country’s financial, tax, and capital market institutions, and address the fragmentation of digital asset regulation.
The executive order establishes a Virtual Assets Committee composed of the heads of Nigeria’s major financial regulatory agencies, which will be responsible for guiding relevant policies. Nigeria’s tax authorities will update digital asset policies and provide further details on the implications for taxpayers.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, stated that the executive order does not establish a new regulatory body nor transfer authority among agencies; each agency retains its statutory duties and independence, and registration requirements will be determined based on the nature of the activities and the assets involved.
A June report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that since 2019, Nigeria has accounted for approximately 60% of stablecoin inflows into sub-Saharan Africa; from July 2023 to June 2024, cryptocurrency inflows into the country totaled approximately $59 billion.