Nigeria is rolling out a brand new method to cryptocurrency oversight that depends on tax and id techniques moderately than blockchain surveillance, as a part of a sweeping reform of its tax regime.
Below its newly carried out 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 requiring the monitoring of blockchain infrastructure.
With this, transactions that have been troublesome to affiliate with people might be matched towards earnings declarations, tax filings and historic data.
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 in regards to the nature and worth of the digital asset transactions they facilitate.
These reviews should embody buyer identification information, together with names, contact particulars and tax IDs, with NINs being mandated for particular person customers.
The regulation additionally allows tax authorities to request further data from service suppliers and requires long-term retention of transaction and buyer data.
VASPs are additionally mandated to flag suspicious and enormous transactions to tax companies and monetary intelligence models, extending oversight into the nation’s anti-money laundering (AML) framework.
For native regulators, the method offers a extra sensible different to blockchain analytics, which might be technically advanced and dear. By connecting compliance with tax and id techniques, 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. In keeping with native information outlet Tech Cabal, although Nigeria launched a tax on crypto earnings 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 regulation to legalize crypto buying and selling, central financial institution 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 Growth’s (OECD’s) Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), which additionally took impact on Jan. 1.
In keeping with the OECD, Nigeria is amongst a second batch of nations dedicated to implementing the worldwide framework by 2028.
Nigeria’s adoption of such mechanisms alerts its intent to combine into this rising international reporting community.
Journal: How crypto legal guidelines modified in 2025 — and the way they’ll change in 2026