Nigeria's President Tinubu Signs Virtual Asset Executive Order

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu has signed an executive order to regulate virtual assets and crack down on unregistered operators. According to Odaily, the measure took effect immediately and will establish a new oversight framework to coordinate the country's fragmented regulatory environment. The newly created Virtual Asset Committee will serve as the main policy-making and coordination body, chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission will serve as vice chairs. The central bank will also create a virtual assets office to handle daily inter-agency operations and information sharing. The Securities and Exchange Commission will oversee securities-related financial activities, while the central bank will manage payment, settlement and custody services for non-security virtual assets. The CBN also plans to launch a regulatory sandbox that will allow qualified operators to test virtual asset products and blockchain solutions in a monitored environment. The committee is required to produce an implementation framework for the order within 30 days.