Nigeria’s new digital economy rules leave gaps in crypto regulation - financial law expert explains
Nigeria is struggling to create a cohesive regulatory framework for digital assets, leading to fragmented oversight between the Central Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission. A financial law expert examines how a recent executive order attempts to address these gaps in the rapidly evolving crypto market.
Why it matters
Clear regulation is essential for emerging economies to leverage blockchain technology while mitigating financial crime and instability.
Nigeria’s approach to regulating crypto-asset transactions has been unclear and inconsistent. Satheesh Sankaran/Wikimedia Commons https://theconversation.com/nigerias-new-digital-economy-rules-leave-gaps-in-crypto-regulation-financial-law-expert-explains-288413 https://theconversation.com/nigerias-new-digital-economy-rules-leave-gaps-in-crypto-regulation-financial-law-expert-explains-288413 Link copied Share article Share article
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Nigerian president Bola Tinubu signed an executive order in mid-2026 aimed at harmonising the country’s oversight of the digital economy. The press statement said the order was responding “to a regulatory environment that has become fragmented as virtual assets increasingly blur the traditional boundaries between currencies, money, commodities and securities”. Iwa Salami , a professor of financial law and regulation, examines whether the executive order plugs the gaps in Nigeria’s crypto-asset regulation.
Virtual assets are digital representations of value that can be transferred, stored or traded electronically using distributed ledger technology or blockchain .
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