Nigeria is rolling out a brand new method to cryptocurrency oversight that depends on tax and id methods somewhat than blockchain surveillance, as a part of a sweeping reform of its tax regime.
Below Nigeria’s newly implemented tax reforms, crypto service suppliers are required to hyperlink transactions to Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) and, the place relevant, Nationwide Identification Numbers (NINs).
The framework, which took impact on Jan. 1, is embedded within the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA) 2025 and marks one of many nation’s most sweeping tax overhauls.
By requiring id disclosure on the reporting layer, Nigeria goals to make cryptocurrency exercise seen to tax authorities with out instantly requiring tax authorities to watch blockchain infrastructure.
Because of this, transactions beforehand troublesome to affiliate with people will be matched in opposition to earnings declarations, tax filings and historic information.
Identification-based reporting replaces onchain surveillance
Below the brand new framework, digital asset service suppliers (VASPs) working in Nigeria should file common returns with tax authorities that embody particulars concerning the nature and worth of the digital asset transactions they facilitate.
These stories should embody buyer identification knowledge, together with names, contact particulars and tax IDs, with NINs required for particular person customers the place relevant underneath Nigeria’s id legal guidelines.
The legislation additionally allows tax authorities to request extra info from service suppliers and requires long-term retention of transaction and buyer information.
VASPs are additionally mandated to share related transaction knowledge with tax authorities and monetary intelligence items, extending present AML reporting obligations.
For native regulators, the method supplies a extra sensible various to blockchain analytics, which will be technically advanced and expensive. By connecting compliance with tax and id methods, authorities can observe crypto flows as they work together with regulated entities.
The framework makes an attempt to shut enforcement gaps left by earlier laws. According to native information outlet Tech Cabal, although Nigeria launched a tax on crypto income in 2022, compliance was uneven due to the problem of linking trades to identifiable taxpayers.
The necessary use of TINs and NINs appears to be designed to shut this enforcement hole.
Associated: Ghana passes law to legalize crypto trading, central bank governor says
A worldwide shift in crypto tax enforcement
Nigeria’s mannequin mirrors a broader worldwide development towards identity-based crypto reporting.
The NTAA aligns with the Group for Financial Co-operation and Improvement’s (OECD’s) Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), which additionally took effect on Jan. 1.
According to the OECD, Nigeria is amongst a second batch of nations dedicated to implementing the worldwide framework by 2028.
Nigeria’s adoption of such mechanisms indicators its intent to combine into this rising world reporting community.
Journal: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026
