Key Insights
- Nigeria associates cryptocurrency operations with NTAA 2025 through taxation and identity verification.
- VASPs will be required to disclose transactions involving TINs and NINs to tax authorities.
- The framework aligns Nigeria with international standards of tax reporting on cryptocurrency.
Nigeria Crypto Oversight Shifts Toward Tax and Identity Reporting Under New Law
Nigeria’s crypto tax framework reforms are reshaping how digital asset activity is monitored, placing tax and identity reporting at the centre of oversight, rather than relying on direct blockchain surveillance.
The approach is outlined in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) 2025, which became effective on January. 1 as part of a broader revaluation of the tax system in the country.
Under the law, cryptocurrency service providers must connect transactions to verified taxpayer and identity records, giving authorities a reporting mechanism that operates at the interface between users and regulated platforms.
The reforms require crypto service providers to associate transactions with Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) and, where applicable, National Identification Numbers (NINs).
Cryptocurrency Regulation in Nigerian Law
NTAA 2025 is one of the most significant tax reforms in Nigeria in recent years. Under this law, virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in the country are expected to file periodic returns that include the nature and value of the digital asset transactions that they facilitate.
However, these disclosure reports should contain customer-identifiable information, including names, contact information, and tax identifiers. Additionally, NINs would be required for individual users.
The law also grants tax officials the authority to request additional information from service providers. It requires the retention of transaction records and customer information for an extended period.
Under the framework, such records should be maintained in a manner that allows authorities to trace the activity to identifiable taxpayers in the event of an audit or review of compliance.
Service providers’ AML Obligations and Reporting
Virtual asset service providers (VASPs) are required to report suspicious and high-value transactions to tax authorities and financial intelligence units.
This requirement ensures that crypto activity is included in current AML reporting systems and that digital asset regulation aligns with other financial services that are already subject to control.
The regulators have characterized the approach as a viable alternative to blockchain analytics, which can be both technically challenging and expensive to implement on a large scale.
Moreover, reporting at the service-provider level also enables authorities to track crypto flows as they integrate with regulated actors, rather than attempting to understand activity on decentralized networks.
Solving Previous enforcement gaps
Tech Cabal stated that the enforcement problems had been caused by the fact that trades are not matched with known taxpayers.
Without consistent identity attribution, tax authorities faced limits in assessing liabilities or verifying declarations.
The crypto regulation in Nigeria, through the NTAA, is intended to solve this problem by mandating that identity disclosure is a prerequisite for using regulated crypto services.
Previously hard-to-trace transactions can now be cross-referenced with tax records, enabling a more consistent application of the old tax rules.
Compliance with International Reporting Standards.
Nigeria is not an exception to the trend observed in other jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom. In the UK, crypto asset providers must collect customer data, including names, dates of birth, and National Insurance numbers or Unique Taxpayer References of residents, and TINs of non-residents.
Using an analogous approach to reporting the layer, Nigeria’s crypto surveillance aligns with the global trend toward tax transparency rather than network monitoring.
The framework is also aligned with the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), which was created by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
According to the OECD, Nigeria is among a second group of countries that have committed to implementing the framework by 2028.
Market Environment and Adoption Statistics.
Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Adoption Index has ranked Nigeria among the top countries in the world in terms of adoption. Between July 2024 and June 2025, the crypto market in the country was estimated to have grown in value by 92.1 billion, experiencing a continuous rise despite regulatory changes.
Moreover, the Central Bank of Nigeria has constituted a task force to seek the possibility of implementing stablecoins. It comes after the country’s central bank, the eNaira, has been poorly received, and the central bank’s performance has been subjected to scrutiny.
