Nigeria has started tracking cryptocurrency transactions and linking them to individuals as part of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025.
By introducing this system, the Nigerian government has aligned itself with the new Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, and allows authorities to collect, analyze, and subsequently share information on cross-border digital asset transactions.
Under Nigeria’s new tax law, a provision allows crypto transactions to be tied to individuals through the Tax Identification Number and National Identification Number.
A TIN number is a unique identifier issued to Nigerians and businesses by the Nigeria Revenue Service and the Joint Revenue Board. It lets tax authorities track individuals and organizations for tax administration, compliance, and enforcement.
NIN, on the other hand, is the national identifier that connects individuals to personal biometric information such as fingerprints and facial data in the National Identity Database.
The NTAA framework mandates all registered Virtual Asset Service Providers to collect both TIN and NIN data and report them alongside customer transaction records. As such, the government is able to follow crypto activity back to real people and tax records without having to rely on expensive or invasive blockchain-surveillance infrastructure.
When filing returns, VASPs are required to submit a vast array of details such as the nature of the virtual asset service provided, the date of the transaction, the value of the assets involved, and the total sales amount. These filings must also include basic customer information such as name, address, telephone number, email address, and tax ID of the customer, as well as the NIN where applicable.
Authorities can also request additional information from exchanges at any time without having to give prior notice.
As part of the law, crypto exchanges are also required to proactively flag and report large or suspicious transactions to both tax authorities and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit. While doing so, they must maintain know-your-customer records and retain customer transaction and identification data for a minimum of seven years after the last recorded activity.
Exchanges that don’t comply may be subject to financial penalties of up to ₦10 million (approx. $7,014) in the first month of default and ₦1 million (approx. $702) for every month of non-compliance, along with the risk of suspension or loss of license.
The Nigerian cryptocurrency market processed an estimated $92.1 billion in digital assets between July 2024 and June 2025, which makes it one of the most active crypto hubs globally. Even a fraction of that sum, once taxed, could generate meaningful revenue for a country seeking to diversify away from oil revenues.
With this initiative, the government plans to curb crypto-related tax evasion, formalize the sector, and improve its tax-to-GDP ratio over the coming years.
Nigeria passed the legal framework last year that formally brought digital assets into the tax net as it sought to regulate the crypto sector more effectively.
Cryptocurrencies were also officially classified as securities under the Investments and Securities Act signed in April 2025, which brought the sector under the regulatory authority of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission.
