Nigeria’s central bank introduced licensing, capital and reserve requirements for cryptocurrency businesses, including a ban on stablecoins that rely primarily on algorithms rather than eligible reserves to maintain their value, according to Cointelegraph’s report published on November 6, 2026, at 21:57:14 UTC+8.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued the Regulations for the Operations of Non-Security Virtual Assets on Thursday. The rules took effect immediately, with existing operators given 180 days to apply for licenses or authorizations. They cover stablecoin issuers, crypto payment providers, exchanges, custodians and other covered service providers.
The CBN said the framework aims to support responsible innovation while protecting consumers and financial stability. It follows President Bola Tinubu’s July executive order seeking to coordinate crypto oversight among Nigerian authorities without changing their existing powers.
Stablecoin backing and capital thresholds
Under the regulations, stablecoin issuers must fully back their tokens with reserve assets and hold an additional buffer equal to at least 2% of their value. At least 40% of reserves must be cash or qualifying highly liquid assets.
Minimum paid-up capital requirements are:
- 10 billion naira ($7.4 million) for naira-backed stablecoin issuers.
- 15 billion naira ($11.1 million) for foreign currency-backed stablecoin issuers.
- 1 billion naira ($742,000) for companies providing payment-related crypto services, including exchange and custody services.
Alongside the prohibition on primarily algorithmic stablecoins, the rules ban tokens without enforceable redemption rights.
A further shift in Nigeria’s crypto oversight
The framework follows earlier restrictions on banking access for exchanges and efforts to restrict peer-to-peer trading using local currency.
Binance, described in the report as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, discontinued its Nigerian naira services in March 2024 amid government scrutiny and allegations of currency manipulation. Nigerian authorities also detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan for nearly eight months before dropping money laundering charges against him in October 2024.
In August 2026, Nigeria’s revenue agency introduced crypto tax collection rules for digital asset platforms and peer-to-peer marketplaces.
For adoption, the reported development concerns the requirements for operating crypto services—not a measured increase in their use. The report provides no user, transaction or retention figures showing how the new framework affects activity.
